My Babysitter's a Vampire: Love is in the Air
by dontfangout
Summary: Benny decides to use magic in attempt to get a valentine. As usual things go awry, resulting in Ethan being under the spell! It wouldn't be My Babysitter's a Vampire without things blown up more than expected. What will happen to Ethan and the rest of the school? Will Ethan be in love with Benny forever? Inspired by episode "Smells Like Trouble" (very different though)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Sarah's Story

It was Sunday night and uncommonly Sarah was over babysitting Jane. The Morgans had to postpone date night Friday due to events that involved spraining his ankle and decided rain check for the weekend. Sure it was a school night, but Sarah was fine with playing Dance Dance Revolution with Jane to prevent her mind from sparking ideas that involved feeding under the dark skies. No, watching an eight year old was way better than succumbing to a fledgling's craving. As long as she stuffed enough overly saturated popcorn in her face, she could ignore her cravings for a bit.

Her wretched curse had become increasingly difficult to overcome. The blood drive had left permanent effects on Sarah. Post the "nurses'" visit, she realized that a vampire's hunger to feed was a much stronger force deemed unfathomable. Gym class was notably torture. There were too many moronic adolescents injuring themselves. Sarah had to run for a quick snack when class ended yesterday after Timothy scraped his knee from falling onto the track. This was one of the many examples highlighting her troubling experience holding back her thirst. Blood was her kryptonite, a fact she was slowly coming to terms with.

"And Princess Aurora and the prince lived happily ever after," Sarah said softly, as she finished reading 'Sleeping Beauty' to the half awake child under the blankets. Jane was tucked away in her pink blankets and the room was dimmed with the small opening from the door as its only source of light. 10 o'clock had never come so sluggish before. It were as though time decided that slow and steady won the race. All Sarah wanted to do now was be released from the confines of this house and feasting on a squirrel. Benny's grandmother had to get her another blood substitute. Juice boxing the blood of small animals was better than hunting them, maybe she'd try that.

A small creak from across the room captured Sarah's attention. She peered over to see a white lanky teen hiding between the crack of the door. With a small roll of her eyes, she got up from the bed and went to investigate what he was up to. She swung the door opened, stepped out, and silently closed it behind her as she focused on Ethan. Her brows furrowed.

Ethan had been wearing different clothes than when she first came over. He sported a slimming red shirt with a black skull on it and loose cargo shorts that funnily enough looked just right on him. Dark chocolate locks nicely framed his face, they weren't sticking up like before, and the sense cologne lingered stronger than before. It was just like Ethan to change his appearance for Sarah considering his insecurities had him believing that nothing he tried on would be enough to impress Sarah. Showing off his best outfits was his only hope of garnering her attention, even though he looked practically the same no matter how he came out of his room.

Sarah never cared how she appeared in front of Ethan. Unknown feelings for the guy were so secretive that even she didn't know she liked him. Cupid was waiting for that epiphany she'd have, but alas it was a work in progress. Tonight she dressed casually, in a purple top and black jeans, and her hair had a twig in the back that no one had pointed out to her. Not being able to see your reflection was very inconvenient. There were so many accounts of her admiring her hair in the mirror and checking to see that she looked just right. Unluckily, she had to now rely on others to inform her when she looked like a hot mess. Screw you Jesse!

"My parents already went to bed so they told me to give you this," Ethan said awkwardly as he shyly handed her the cash she earned. He wondered when he could prove to his parents that he didn't need to have Jane babysat by someone else anymore, but he also liked seeing Sarah. Replaying that night she stepped into his doorway surprisingly in his head was an often occurrence of his. Somehow, by some fate, his biggest crush went to his house every Friday night and he knew her darkest secret. What were the odds of that!

"Oh, thanks," Sarah smiled at him softly and placed the money in her back pocket, not even bothering to count it. Usually she would, but time was ticking and her prey wasn't going to trap itself. Life would be so much easier if it did. Her life would be easier if she wasn't cursed actually. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow," Sarah said after a few moments of silence. She slowly walked past him and started down the hallway.

"See...ya..." And with that, his fanged crush was skipping down the stairs and out the front door faster than a bolt of lightening. Well, it was slower than that but with Sarah time always seemed to fly by.

Ethan lightly approached Jane's bedroom and shut the door soundlessly. Sarah truly had the magic touch when it came to his little sister. Convincing her to go to sleep took hours before she showed up. Jane knew that she could dance circles around Ethan until he finally gave in and offered to give her something in return for her sleep. His pushover nature was a weakness of his.

"Goodnight Jane," Ethan whispered before heading off to play video games until 3 in the morning.

Notes: There will be 20 chapters of this series so stay tuned to read more! This takes place during season 1.

Chapter Management


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Disaster's Struck

The hallway was plastered with giant red and pink hearts stamped onto the walls, strings of cheesy kisses hanging from the ceiling, and sweet sayings like 'You rock!' stuck to everyone's locker. Yep, tomorrow was Valentine's day. Even with the darkness looming over the little town, Whitechapel still managed to throw up Valentine's day in its proud high school. Ethan didn't know whether to be miffed with the fact it was being shoved in his face that he was still single, or pathetic that he couldn't manage the courage to just ask Sarah out after knowing her for almost four months now. The worst holiday ever was always blown way out of proportion. The day that having a valentine is the thing of the past is the day Ethan finally celebrates not dreading the first two weeks of February.

Ethan approached an atypically focused Benny at his locker, staring into it as if there were a secret he wanted to stash away. Though it wasn't unusual for him to be hiding something, focus was definitely not a word Ethan would use to describe Benny. Impulsive, chaotic, and reckless were more accurate choices that came to mind. The reticent male jumped back in surprise when a small tap bounced on his shoulder. About to snap at at the stranger, he turned to see it was just his best friend curiously looking over.

"What are you doing?" Ethan asked Benny, almost annoyed that he hadn't been told what he was up to. That was until he noticed familiar pages of a certain someone's spell book peeping out from the cave. "Please don't tell me this has something to do with Valentine's day," Ethan groaned more than pleaded.

"Sorry, no can do E. I've been waiting all year for this sexy Lea and as Link I can't let her escape," Benny said passionately. Ethan didn't know how to feel about his lack of influence he had on Benny. It seemed to be lowering more and more these days. Then again, when did Benny ever listen to anyone other than himself?

Benny wasn't bothered that he was single on a holiday that celebrated love. The perfect excuse to hit on chicks appropriately was February. Magic had also been a factor in his boost of confidence. Unlimited powers, when used correctly, were the perfect gift to make the warlock feel invincible. Nothing could hold him back, not even thirty rejections and ten girls that ignored him. Ethan might've been down in the dumps, but that's because he didn't have the right tools to get what he wanted. As a gift to Ethan, he should cast a confidence spell on him. There was bound to be one desperate girl for him on this depressing day.

"What?" Ethan didn't know how he could be more confused than he already was, but Benny never failed to surprise him. Many ideas ran of what Benny was possibly doing with a spell book and some innocent girl. He could make her say yes to anything he asked, have her turn into an even more attractive girl, add to her personality (unlikely), or make him charming to her. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Ethan almost didn't want to know.

"I'm using this new spell called 'Amare' I found to get Tiffany to be my valentine. If I use it now, the spell will start to work right when we have AP biology together. Then I can ask her to the dance," Benny explained, almost too excited to contain his own foolishness. Did this sound like a bad idea? Yes. Did Benny repeat mistakes he made in the past? Absolutely. Teens felt unstoppable enough without magic. Supernatural forces made him that much more temerarious.

"Benny, remember what happened last time you did something like that? We almost got killed," Ethan said, trying to speak quietly so that he didn't strangle him from another horrible plan. Magic and Benny rarely went well together. He was still holding a slight a grudge from being turned into a hairy beast of the moon. Not to mention the time he resurrected an evil pet, failed to get rid of Doug and sold his grandma's terrifying camera. Thoughtless, that was another word to add to the list.

"Relax, this spell is different. I cast the spell to get her to fall in love with the first person she sees," Benny assured him. Using logic wasn't a quality of his, but he tried his best to explain ideas to his very methodical friend in hopes of changing his mind. It didn't work most of the time, but it was worth trying to aim for that 5% of the time when it did.

"Okay, but what about when she starts hating you?" Ethan, the voice of reason, questioned.

"The only reason the girls hated us last time was because they never liked us in the first place. I've got sources that tell me Tiffany already has a thing for me. This spell is just to spruce things up a bit,"

It sounded like an awful plan no matter how you looked at it. Ethan wasn't comfortable letting Benny use magic for his own leisurely pleasure when he could barely control them to fight monsters. And if Tiffany already liked him then the spell wasn't worth risking anyways. The hard part was convincing Benny that his own plan sucked.

"Oh here she comes! Move," Benny pushed Ethan aside before he could even protest this entire thing.

Tiffany was way out of Benny's league and beyond gorgeous. Soft strawberry blonde curls swept past her hips, she had chocolate brown eyes, the sweetest looking lips and a rosy face to match. Pink was her signature color and today was no different. A flowery pastel pink dress curved her body and puffed out to her knees, showing off her tanned legs. Covering her arms was a mint leader jacket with silver zippers. Chunky black boots adorned her attire. Gosh did she have the most adorable style. There was no way she'd ever go for a guy like Benny, no matter what he told himself.

Aiming for the victim, he began chanting in Latin. "Ruinam in amor!" Just as he finished, as if on queue, Rory shoved Ethan into the lockers.

"What's up my fellow sky walkers!" Rory cheerfully greeted. Ethan hissed in pain and stood there for a moment, trying to figure out if he had actually been hit with the spell or not. He didn't feel any different. Benny was still his obnoxious friend that was also a beast at Star Ninja VI.

"Rory! You idiot!" Benny shoved him lightly and slammed his book annoyed into the depths of his locker. There was a glimpse of hope in his heart that the spell had managed to hit Tiffany before it could reach Ethan, but the chances of that seemed slim.

"Jeez, what's burnt out your lightsaber?" Rory asked, not really having a clue why he was being scolded. It was rare that he understood what was going on though, so he let it slide and decided to go hit on that sweetie Erica instead.

"Ethan, how do you feel?" Benny gave Ethan a concerned look and bit his lower lip nervously. They wouldn't truly know who had been hit for a couple of hours, but maybe he felt the spell?

"Fine, I guess. Just please don't try that spell anymore. We don't need half the school falling in love with you, again," Ethan leaned against the locker and tried to sense any new feelings he might be having. Much to his dismay, it seemed like he'd have to wait this one out.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Ethan's Crush

Benny rolled up to the long line of students eagerly waiting for the grossest food known to man: cafeteria food. If his stomach wasn't angrily punching him, he would be sitting next to Rory by now. But beggars can't be choosers and the food was at least appetizing when you added salt to it. So far nothing had seemed out of the ordinary, although that could've been the smell of phony baloney masking, and he had almost forgotten about the spell completely. That was until he felt a hot gust of air pressing against his neck.

"Hey Benny-boo~," a familiar voice cooed into his ear.

Holy cannoli the spell really had hit Ethan! Benny had no idea what to think in a situation where his best bud had a crush on him. Last time an incident similar occurred, he was disguised as a cheerleader and fooling an idiot vampire into falling head over heels for him. This was different, way different. It was incredibly weird too, seeing Ethan act like this. However, he couldn't be rude to his poor friend. He was under his spell after all, even though it was mainly Rory's fault in his opinion.

"H-hey Ethan..." Benny said awkwardly as he moved up the line to have sloppy macaroni and cheese plopped onto his pathetic tray. So much for having an appetite, he thought to himself.

"You weren't with me in Calculus. I got lonely!" Ethan pouted, grabbing Benny's arm and clinging to him like a panda to bamboo. There was no way he was letting go of Benny after the torture of not having him around for three hours. It was almost agonizing to even fathom.

had the most monotonous voice in the entire universe. He was so dull that even the most unsharpened pencils knew they were no competition to his personality, hence the challenge of focusing in a boring math class with laborious curriculum. Benny attending would possibly make the class worth the credit towards his advanced diploma. Instead, he had to wallow away with a deteriorating interest in numbers as he dealt with a clueless girl adjacent to him.

"Well we don't have Calculus together E. I was in AP bio," Benny didn't know what to say to someone who was waning for his attention this way. He tried to pretend like Ethan were some clingy chick, but it was hard to imagine with his bony elbows and less than smooth arms. Should he push him away when he's holding onto him like this? It was difficult to determine what to do. After a short deliberation, Benny came to the conclusion that he'd have to play along until he figured out a quick reversal spell. A school day of whiny Ethan couldn't be that bad, right?

"So? You could've ditched class to be with me. You never consider my needs," Ethan squeezed his arm tighter as if afraid Benny would suddenly escape from his grip. The boy just wanted his lover to think of him sometimes and who could blame him?

Ethan had so much to offer. He was always considerate of other people, worked against his fears to save others, was a great video game competitor, shared all of his common interests, often went with the flow, and had a big heart. Affection was a scarier concept that he had started to get familiarize himself with when he realized that he couldn't resist the urge to touch Benny. Most people would kill for a companion like that, being crazy in love and ready to take on the world! What did Benny have to lose? It could only get better from here.

"Maybe tomorrow," Benny said as he tried to appease the upset teen. Man, does this spell make guys sound more like girls too? He could've sworn he'd heard his mom yell that at his dad only a hundred times in the past. Ah that didn't matter now. What mattered was that Benny was having to pay Stephanie, the once cheerleader witch turned lunch lady for fake food. It took some shifting, but he managed to pay for his meal without dropping anything. He almost did, but Ethan was kind enough to catch his tray.

"No, tomorrow is too late. Meet me for fourth period," Ethan insisted. Benny didn't say anything and rushed to the table with a human stuck to him like a parasite. Parasitic friends were the worst.

Tempting, Benny did have a study hall period for fourth. But the thought of dealing with Ethan's flirting intertwined with the necessity to find a reversal spell quickly, made it a less enticing idea. Though it wasn't exceptionally uncomfortable for Ethan to seek his attention in this manner, Benny wasn't fully and mentally prepared to take on the task of distancing himself from his smitten comrade. Speaking was tolerable, however, the touchiness was a bit much. He needed to know someone wasn't sharing his breath every time he respired.

"When's the wedding?" Rory teased as he watched the two pathetically settle into their seats. Benny set his tray on the table, looking agitated at the blonde vampire, and kicked his left shin as hard as he could. "Ow!"

"Ethan's just under a spell, one that you ruined this morning," Benny said to him bitterly as he scooped a bite of plasticky cheese into his mouth. Salt, he needed salt. Picking up the packet, he ripped it open and sprinkled the small crystals all over his meal. Another bite determined he made the right decision with his spice choices.

"Oh that's what you were mad at me for. Dude, I didn't know you liked Ethan," Rory didn't know how to handle the situation other than just be unaware. Benny liking Ethan was surprising to him, but maybe that's why they were always doing things alone together. Plus he had never managed to pick up any hot babes. Were hot babes not his type? Was Ethan his type? If Benny liked guys then he should go for someone a little more like Jesse, way hotter.

"What? No, you pushed him in the way of the spell hitting Tiffany," Benny told him, losing his already deteriorating patience. Right now he could be flirting with Tiffany and eating at her lunch table if it hadn't been for that idiot Rorster.

"Who cares about Tiffany? You have me," Ethan protested, smiling only a little and beginning to crawl onto Benny's skinny lap. It seemed so warm and inviting. Plus he could feel Benny's heart beating against him if he rested just right against his chest. Benny tried to pry him off, but Ethan wasn't giving up without a fight. Not worth the trouble, Benny quickly gave in and let the teen onto his lap.

"Exactly," Benny muttered.

This day had gone horribly wrong. When he woke up, he had visions that the spell would work perfectly and Tiffany would be twirling her hair cutely next to him in class. They'd get along so well that she'd invite him to lunch and say yes to his proposal of being his date for the valentine's day dance. Instead, he had a hormonal and overly cologned guy perched on his lap like a chair, asking him how he liked his breakfast cooked in the morning. It seemed this day couldn't get any worse.

"For someone who says he doesn't like Ethan you are awfully close," Rory said, commenting on the lack of effort Benny had pulling apart from Ethan. He was aware that Benny didn't see Ethan that way, but it was incredibly funny to watch the man struggle.

"Rory, you're this close to being turned into a toad," Benny threatened, squinting his two fingers together to indicate how much more he was willing to let Rory get away with. Evidently, not much.

"Okay, okay. Honestly, doting Ethan is starting to get on my nerves. When do you think this'll wear off?" Rory said, acknowledging that his precious time teasing Benny had to sadly come to an end.

"My guess is by tomorrow. It took under 24 hours with the potion so I'd assume it's the same thing," Benny said, not honestly sure of the correct answer.

Benny knew the potion he used and the spell he casted were two completely separate versions of the same concept; love. Presumptuous as it was, he based his estimate off of the magic used previously. In actuality it could take years before the it wore off. Spells were different types of magic than potions and worked contrastively too. Still, he didn't want to admit that he was uninformed regarding a spell he used. By the time he finished reading about it, he'd be an expert (more or less).

The fate of Ethan and Benny's friendship rested in a vacuous warlock. He had to take action and preferably pronto!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: The Cat's Out of the Bag

"Benny!" Ethan exclaimed as he saw his handsome dark haired boyfriend packing up his locker and shuffling through his backpack to decide what to shove in there and not be seen until next year. Most of his locker was filled with crumpled papers that were not longer needed and sloppily written notes that he never bothered to look back to. School was important sure, but came easy for him. The less time he worried about next weeks test, the more time he got to have Dungeons and Dragons with Ethan. Tests weren't that difficult to begin with, especially when he had magic on occasion to rescue him.

Benny was almost positive that he had found the reversal spell, leading him to not be as easily annoyed with Ethan now that there was a chance he'd be free soon. His grandmother wouldn't chew him out for "messing with the pendulum" again and Sarah wouldn't kick his butt for just being stupid. Hopefully Rory wouldn't be a blabbermouth and mention the accident to her or he might actually have a problem on his hand. When the cries of Ethan from across the hallway rang into his ears, he simply finished packing away and turned to face his nutcase.

"You didn't meet me after English," Ethan said, marching up to him with his arms crossed and looking as if he were to pounce on Benny like a vampire's next meal. Benny would never be scared of Ethan, except for right now this wasn't Ethan. This was a human under a spell with unknown intentions that he didn't want to find out. It was better to calm him down and probably safer too. Playing along seemed to be the only logical explanation to contain whatever evil lied within.

"I'm sorry E. I forgot. How can I make it up to you?" Benny almost didn't want to know the answer. It could either be extremely cringey or extremely devious, both sounded completely unappealing to him. Ethan was acting much clingier than he had thought though. It was almost as if he wasn't under a love spell, but some attachment spell. But love and attachment had nothing to do with each other, leaving Benny with the thought that he must just be really clingy when it comes to dating even if that seemed uncharacteristic.

"Hmph. I'm beginning to think you aren't taking us seriously. It's like you don't even care," Ethan was now more saddened than angry, which almost alarmed Benny more. Maybe this was a 'PMS' spell. He turned his back to the frustrated teen and huffed at the wall like a toddler not getting candy.

Benny was perplexed. Something nipped at the back of his mind that it was best to suck it up and embrace the relationship that he would have to endure for the next few hours or so. It'd all be over once they got to his house, meaning there wasn't a need to be to uptight. The problem was it was hard to convince himself that he was comfortable flirting with Ethan. Live action role play with someone who wasn't role playing was not fun. Ethan needed him though. And if Ethan wasn't tranquil then there'd be too much at risk. Benny had to think about other people and not selfishly for once.

"Of course I care," he started softly, placing a hand on his shoulder in attempts to comfort the upset male. "I shouldn't have been insensitive. Please let me prove that to you and take you home after school," He hoped this would work. It's not like he's had much dating experience. The lack of girls swooning for him was not helping the current situation.

"Fine, I'll only accept if I get a kiss," Ethan turned back around and indignantly turned his nose up at Benny, who lack of for better words was mortified. He didn't mean kiss on the lips, right? Even a kiss on the cheek didn't suit well, but anything was better than the lips. Well, almost anything...

"A kiss? Uh...okay..." he leaned down and very lightly kissed his cheek, swiftly pulling away after immediate contact. To his own surprise, he didn't remonstrate to the request. Giving him a huge grin, Ethan hugged Benny happily and nuzzled the crook of his neck. Benny was about to say something when he was interrupted by a quizzical friend.

"Wow, I knew you two were close but not that close," Sarah, who didn't know whether to be amused or weirded out, said to them with an almost smug expression on her face. Benny ruminated his options of explaining the situation or not. Perhaps withholding information was the best idea. Being slapped in the face for a temporary problem wasn't too enticing.

"Well how close do you expect soulmates to be?" Ethan sassed, protective of someone who appeared to be undermining their beautiful relationship. What a witch!

"Soulmates? Is this some new geek term I don't know about?" Sarah was seriously confused. Yesterday these two were buddies and today they were acting like a couple. Ethan was acting like one anyway. Wait...

"Benny, what's going on?" Sarah demanded, now concluding this had to be a failed attempt at magic once again. Benny would be a horrendous Houdini. Thank goodness he was more into video games than wizardry.

"Nothing...I just might have accidentally put Ethan under a spell to fall in love with me. But I can fix it!" Benny wanted to assure Sarah that this entire disaster can be dealt with before she became a volcano right in his face. He knew she wouldn't care that much about Ethan, more like the fate of the town. Beating monsters and being a vampire were tiring enough without having to fix Benny's magic flukes on top of it.

"You better! Didn't you dweebs learn anything?"

Sarah gave Ethan a sympathetic look, knowing that he presumably wasn't a culprit to this crime. Ethan was a quick learner. It was rare that he repeated a mistake, especially when the results were catastrophic, and liked to stick to the safe side of things. Sure he was adventurous and brave, regardless he aired on the side of caution. His mind continuously was rolling and analyzing his surroundings. This resulted in a conflicted guy mostly. While he enjoyed monster hunting with Benny, he also hated it. The anxiety he had from it left him sleepless some nights. Often he wished that he'd never been brought into the supernatural world. Ignorance is bliss.

Benny was the complete opposite. When there were danger signs, that egged him on to do it more. He was a thrill chaser and loved to be the tough crazy guy he believed to be. In actuality he was frightened easily, no matter how well he played off that he wasn't. Casting spells to ward off ghosts, weeding evil plants and making out with a hot babe after fighting off vampires was just the life Benny lived for. As soon as he found out the supernatural existed, his entire life changed. No longer was he playing the same video games and defeating the same monsters on screen, now he was preoccupied with real life evil that he had to ward off. He was like batman, a hero of the night longed to never be unmasked, and forever saving the world! Recognition would be nice though.

"I can, well, at least I think I can. I'm pretty confident I found the reversal spell. All that's left is for Ethan to be uncrushed," Benny said, looking down at Ethan who had not let go of him for the entirety of their conversation.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you love me?" Ethan asked, too enamored with his sexy lover to be bothered with whatever boring conversation he was having with this Sarah chick. Sarah seemed more like a threat, like she could steal Benny away from him. Benny always did have a thing for big...that wasn't the point! He needed to give Benny something worth keeping. "Cuz I can prove how much I love you in other ways than just the numerical scale," he whispered huskily in his ear.

A chill ran down Benny's back, naturally because that's how sensory nerves worked, and his face turned to the color of Erica's fangs after sinking into her latest meal.

Benny's feelings for Ethan had not budged since the spell had been casted, yet his body occasionally was betraying his heart and surrendering to its primitive tendencies of reaction. It was embarrassing and perplexing Benny why he was reacting this way. Puberty could cause many strange occurrences though, and he figured that his abnormal behavior was due to the fluctuating changes of his body and hormones. Hormones were a major player, he determined.

"Oookay, that's enough Benny time for you," and again Benny attempted to pull Ethan apart from him. They were failing efforts, but efforts nonetheless. "Sarah, meet me at Ethan's after school. I'm going to fix this once and for all,"

"Why do you need me there?" Sarah asked, cocking an eyebrow and giving him a not amused look.

"I'm almost positive I have the reversal spell. But just in case things go south, I'll need backup," Benny stated more so than asked Sarah for this.

Sarah really didn't want to spend her time after school helping some idiot nerds reverse a spell. Commonly, she was cleaning up messes that she had nothing to do with initially. Her powers were an essential backbone for their failures. Listening to music while she took a long bath was much more her speed. Sadly, her morals got the best of her, and conceded that Benny would need her if worst came to worst.

"Okay, but hurry up. I don't want to spend more time on this than I have to," Sarah announced.

"Yes ma'am,"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Hello Cutie!

Meanwhile, Erica had her own sinister plans that involved getting a hot date and possibly a hot meal! Often, she would scour Whitechapel with wishes that she'd encounter a unique specimen to add to her collection. The week of Valentine's day was starting to look grim until a face appeared. The new guy in school looked too yummy to pass up!

When there was someone new, everyone noticed. Their small school left it inevitable that everyone had at least heard of just about everyone and when a new face appeared it was not only obvious, but shocking too. It was rare that anyone moved to Whitechapel, it was typically the other way around. Even if the dude wanted to hide away, it was impossible when he looked that good. He was tall, tan, muscular, wore clothes that fit him in all the right places, had full lips, a jawline that could cut diamonds and the silkiest black hair. Meat like this was bound to find its way into the fangs of a very hungry vampire. And Erica was determined to be that vampire.

Today she wore her best outfit; a tight and low-cut black leather top, skinny jeans that shaped her just right, and dark red lips that was known to make men swoon. Every time she wore this ensemble, she was successful. The Valentine's Day dance was just the thing to celebrate her soon to be victorious capture. He'd be looking handsome, she'd be in a stunning red dress and soon his O positive blood would be dripping down that sexy thick neck of his. Man, even his hands looked amazing.

Getting him to notice her wouldn't be a problem. And a great conversation starter never hurt anyone. All she needed was to find an opportunity to prey and he was soon to be hers! A full night with just Erica, he was one lucky guy and he didn't even know it. As if fate winked at her, the gorgeous stranger strode past. The suckish part was that he didn't even glance her way. She would have to do this the normal way and not play hard to get. Why did she always have to do everything herself?

"Hey there cutie," Erica said confidently with a smirk on her face. She rested against the locker and stared directly into those blue pools she'd been (un)dying to swim into. Surprised that anyone was talking to him, he looked down to see a blonde girl giving him heart eyes.

"Uh...hi" he said vexatiously, not used to such forwardness in a person. It creeped him out mainly. Crazy chicks were the ones known for their unstoppable behavior and absence of fear.

Erica looked dropped dead gorgeous (irony had a sense of humor). Irregardless of her good looks, personality were important to the mysterious outsider and she wasn't making a great first impression. Subtly and sweetness were more appealing traits in a person than forwardness and edge. To some, they enjoyed the chase or being chased. Games were sadly not his cup of tea.

"I'm Erica. Does the new hottie want to share his name?" she licked her lips, her eyes crawling up and down to really get a good look up close. He was even more attractive in person! If it hadn't been for her surefire vampire charms, she'd be blushing like a madman.

"Erastus," he answered hesitantly, still unsure of what exactly Erica wanted from him. Not knowing much about this school, he'd assume that she was put up to a prank. Canadians weren't this friendly were they?

"Oooh exotic are we. What's that accent I hear~" Erica raised her hand to her ear, pretending like this would help her decipher where he's from more accurately.

"Greek, I'm from Greece," Erastus said, fastening his backpack zipper and closing his locker to flee from this discomforting conversation.

"Greek huh? No wonder you look like a god," Erica said, stepping closer to him with a more serious expression painted across her face.

"Thank you?" Erastus nodded his head and bolted before Erica got the chance to sneak in another line of hers. She loved it when they ran. It made the catch all the more rewarding!

Even if Erastus were to consider forwarding relations with Erica, he wasn't fully aware of her intentions. Being on the same page was important to him and it was evident that she liked to beat around the bush. Plus, her pushiness had already started to reveal itself. There wasn't any point in continuing this when the signs of failure were scattered everywhere along the highway he was looking down. Erica was not worth the mental headache. No girl was.

"Oof, you definitely get a giant L stamped on your forehead for that one," the vexing Ror-master teased as he approached his favorite babe in the entire school. If he could pick any fish from the sea, it would be Erica. She was sexy, sassy, and loved the band Single Tear just like him. They also both had the same taste in food, much to his delight. They could have a romantic picnic with wineglasses of fresh blood. He had way more to offer than that exchange student! Sure he was attractive, but he had no personality. Personality is where it was at man.

"Oh shut up. I've been on tons of dates, you've never even had one," Erica pointed out, not wanting to appear like a loser in front of the geekiest loser in the entire town. He was a vampire and still managed to make her cringe and that was saying a lot.

"Not true, I dated Debby," Rory reminded her. Debby was the most beautiful girl he'd ever kissed, even if she was a little crazy.

"Please, dolls brought to life don't count," Erica retorted back, almost too proud that she had known that fact.

"Sure it does. You're just jealous that she was totally in love with me," Rory's heart fluttered in thought of his ex-girlfriend. She was a doll sucking the life out of people to stay alive, but she never tried that on him. Erica was just bitter that she happened to be one of her victims, in the bathroom of all places! His ex was seductive and could kick some major butt.

"She wasn't even alive. Everything she felt was fake," and with that, Erica left Rory alone to ponder what she said.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Uh-Oh

"Oh oh oh it's magic, you know. Never believe it's not soooo~" Ethan had repeatedly been singing, coincidentally, 'Magic' by Selena Gomez the entire car ride home and refused to let any other song play. Benny didn't know what kind of whack job spell he used, but it was getting on his last nerve. He felt like he was an elevator and the spell had managed to press every button. Occasionally flirting was okay, but listening to the same cheesy Disney song over and over and over again was borderline insane. With everything that happened that day, it was a wonder that Benny hadn't combusted already. He was holding up rather well.

"Thank God," Sarah uttered to herself as they pulled up into Ethan's driveway. Sarah wasn't too bothered by the mishap. It was funny to watch Benny struggle with an enamored Ethan. He had enough trouble as it was with girls and guys didn't seem to be in his range of skills either. In her opinion, Benny should suffer with Ethan for longer. If the last time hadn't ended up dangerously, she would've made him figure it out alone. Stupidly, Sarah agreed to aiding the fool. She would have to sneak in a few photos, for hilarity's sake, and for potential blackmail. The mind of a genius was always a plentiful one.

"Let's get this over with," Benny said as he turned off his grandmother's car and rushed to his front door. Thankfully, Jane was in school and his parents didn't get home until the late evening. There was enough privacy to return Ethan to his normal awkward self before his family even noticed anything was out of the ordinary. If Jane found anything out then they'd all have to chip in some dough and promise to do some awful chores for a month. Benny didn't know whether to curse her or admire her entrepreneurship.

They all shuffled into his room and plopped Ethan onto his bed, hoping that he would stay still. His room was filled with science books and space stuff that only he and his nerd squad understood. Posters of his favorite TV shows were spread on his walls and a secret bikini model magazine was tucked away under his bed. Medium sized nightstands protected both sides of his bed and were disheveled with books and papers with chicken scratch handwriting. His computer was the most normal thing in there, Sarah took note of.

"Wait," Ethan got up and typed away on his computer, logging on to Friendly Face. "For you," he said as he smiled up at Benny and changed his status from 'single' to 'in a relationship' with Benny's profile tagged underneath. Great. Now the entire school was going to gossip about their fake relationship. Benny loved attention but not this kind. Getting girls was hard enough, it would make it impossible to get a girlfriend if she thought you were attracted to Ethans. It wasn't that Ethan was ugly or anything, he actually would be the only guy Benny ever would consider dating. Seeing Ethan in that way just wasn't possible for him. Hopefully he could take it down before anyone noticed after he reversed this spell.

"I guess it's official now," Sarah said with a smirk, watching as Ethan added hearts to Benny's page and spammed each of his photos with overly cheesy comments that made even 'The Notebook' cringe. 'The love of my life looks so good in stripes! 3' was only one of the many embarrassing comments to flood his Friendly Face. A few people had already started to direct message Ethan with 'Congratulations!' and 'I knew it!' He was pretty proud of himself and hoped that Benny was happy to see how much effort he was putting into their relationship.

"Well it's about to be officially over," Benny announced, flipping desperately through the pages of the book before he found the spell that he had bookmarked. This had been one weird day, one that will scar him forever, but thankfully it was going to end after a few seconds. "Amor in ruinam!" Benny exclaimed as he hit Ethan with the spell. He held in his breath, still unsure whether the spell actually worked or not.

Ethan looked at the two of them puzzled and quiet. They were staring at him as if they were waiting for something to happen, but he didn't know what. It was odd. Benny and Sarah exchanged looks, both unaware of what to do now, and continued to wait for a reaction.

Spells and reactions varied frequently. Usually it was instantaneous. However, 'amare' seemed to work on its own schedule that just so happened to not be convenient. Benny was close to just interviewing the clock on the wall.

"Sarah, can you leave? Benny and I need some alone time," Ethan said breaking the silence in hopes of seducing his boyfriend into some more romantic activities that didn't involve a third wheel. His bony fingers crept onto the male's thigh and squeezed it tight, a grin slitting his face as he endearingly admired his adorable man.

"Benny, you said this would work!" Sarah was more aggravated than ever that Ethan was still hitting on Benny harder than a truck going seventy miles per hour. This meant that sweetie Ethan was about to be hostile Ethan within the next few hours or so. There was no way she was going to deal with that mess. Benny would have to figure that out on his own.

"I said I was almost positive it would work. It doesn't matter. I have the 'Eternity Cage, I'll just lock myself away from him for the night. Everything will be fine," Benny attempted to assure Sarah not to sweat it. She wasn't someone that was easy to convince and was fixated on Ethan's problem.

"I'm not dealing with this anymore so you better hope that cage works," Sarah said, warning Benny that his fate of surviving tonight rested on a role playing cage. The whole role play thing was a concept she'd never truly understand, mainly because it just sounded like teenage nerd code for playing dress up. Last time she checked, her license said '17' on it. Ugh, age. Now that it came to mind, she'd be seeing the number 17 for the rest of her life. Hopefully not but most likely.

"Thanks for the support," Benny said sarcastically.

"No problem," She retorted.

"Sarah," Ethan said impatiently, giving her a death glare with laser eyes.

"I think that's my hint," Sarah said, glad to leave the situation already, and turned to head out the door.

"No, wait, please don't go! Don't leave me with...him," Benny wanted any chance he could take to avoid awkward circumstances and prevent "Ethan" from pressuring him into doing things like kissing his cheek again or worse, canoodling! Sarah was his greatest beam of light and it was fading away.

"Have fun!"

A minute passed. Ethan acted rather casually, to Benny's surprise. The more time he spent with Benny, the more at ease Ethan became. Gradually, they were at a point where Ethan rested his leg across Benny's lap as they played video games and he didn't say one weird thing for thirty minutes. Slip ups happened, but they were far and few between. Benny couldn't figure out if was the spell was wearing off or the intensity of Dark souls. Either way, the day wasn't ending too badly.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: The Walk of Lame

The world around was spinning, birds were piercing his ears, and his entire body was slower than a mummy crawling. Ethan had never felt worse in his entire life. The thought of walking more than three steps was enough to squeeze that qualmish feeling in his stomach without mercy. As much as he wanted to stay home and hibernate in bed, he recognized that Valentine's day was important for him and Benny. Scrummaging around all evening, it had taken Ethan a lengthy duration to discover the perfect gifts. Seeing the look on Benny's face would make him forget all about his illness, at least he hoped. Ethan's infatuation was the motivation that lead him to walking down this hall that felt like 16 kilometers long.

He tried to look his best for school, wearing his beloved cargo pants, a blue tee shirt with Spok, and brand new black sneakers that Benny had complimented once. His hair was more disheveled than usual, but he told himself he was going for more of a sexy 'I woke up like this' look. All of the blood had drained from his face, resulting in him sneaking his mother's blush subtly on his cheeks. A hint of his dad's cologne "Diptyque Philosykos", saved specially for date nights.

Meanwhile at the end of the hall, Benny looked rather fetching! The green striped shirt he wore rarely and loose jeans gave him this cute nerdy vibe that Ethan dug. He approached him slowly with a trembling smile on his face.

"Ethan...you look different," Benny didn't know how to comment on Ethan and confounded by the visual state he was in. Direly wanting to inquire his wellbeing, Benny refrained in fear that Ethan still mad at him for casting a spell and didn't want to push any buttons with him. Although he didn't remember the girls having difficulty recovering from the spell, who knew how it affected Ethan.

"I feel different. That's okay though," Ethan said to him, opening his locker and starting to sneak Benny's gifts in there so that he would give them to him the proper way.

"Man, I'm sorry about yesterday. I promise, no more love spells," Benny wanted to clear any tension that might've possibly in the air as he watched Ethan presumably give him the silent treatment. The last thing he needed after a crummy day was a friend who was upset with him too.

Ethan, however, wasn't paying attention to anything Benny said as he was too busy humming loving songs to himself.

"Close your eyes and hold out your hands," Ethan instructed.

Benny paused. Was this some kind of trick? Should he leave now before he was manhandled? It didn't seem like Ethan to quickly forgive him, so this had to be some kind of scheme.

"No way, I don't know what kind of evil plan you have," Benny said, stepping away from Ethan. Ethan sighed.

"Just do it," He pushed.

Benny huffed and shut his lids, giving in to whatever prank Ethan had up his sleeve. Hesitantly, he opened out his hands. Much to his pleasant surprise, he felt wrapping paper against his sweaty palms. His curious eyes settled on the poorly wrapped red boxes. This must be the prank, pretend to be nice and open a box of explosions. He placed the boxes in his locker, deciding he'd throw them out later.

"Aren't you going to open them?" Ethan asked expectantly, his eyes shiny like he truly had something wonderful he wanted to share with him.

"Alright," Benny pulled one of the presents back out and unwrapped to reveal a heart shaped box of his favorite sea salt caramel chocolates.

"Happy Valentine's day Benny," Ethan said proudly to him with the largest smile he could muster. So...the spell hadn't worn off. The heck! But on the bright side, he got some free food out of it so Benny surmised that it wasn't all bad. His next present was thinner. The CD had a list in order of all of his favorite songs. How did Ethan remember all of the songs he loved?

"Wow, thanks E," Benny grinned back at him. Ethan opened the box of chocolates for him and plucked one, raising it to Benny's lips.

"Try it," He insisted, smiling softly up at him. Benny didn't know whether Ethan was pretending to be under the spell or not, but figured there was no harm in just chewing on some chocolates. The caramel oozed into his mouth as he took a soft bite. This was some expensive stuff! The richness of the milk blended nicely with the chunks of salt. He swallowed thickly and licked the chocolate residue surrounding his face. Oh yes, he could get used to being pampered a little bit in exchange for some uncomfortable flirting.

"Do you like it?" Ethan said, searching for signs of approval. Benny nodded his head and placed the presents back safely in his locker.

"They're great," Ethan stood there, looking at him as if he were waiting for something.

"Well," Ethan said.

"Well what?"

"Where's mine?" Ethan said, starting to feel a little disappointed that Benny hadn't thought of him too.

"Oh um...you'll get your presents later. I wanted to make it special," Benny said, lying right through his teeth.

"I see. If you didn't get me anything you didn't have to lie about it," Ethan sighed, his feet seeming to be a better view at the moment than his disappointing boyfriend. Suddenly, it felt like someone had just stabbed him in the heart thirteen times. "Ow!" Ethan exclaimed, clutching his chest and falling against the locker for support.

Benny jumped in to help him, raising him up and feeling Ethan's forehead. Was he coming down with something or was this part of the spell. He couldn't tell. "You alright?" Benny asked worried.

"Yeah, just a little heart burn," Ethan stood up more by himself and snaked an arm around Benny's waist. "I think I'm just gonna stay here for a few minutes though," Ethan began to grow paler, small beads of sweat forming on the side of his neck and that excruciating pain in his heart didn't seem to subside. It felt like having the flu combined with the worst heartburn known to man, except replace burn with stabbing. Of all days to get sick, it had to be this one.

Ethan's jelly legs had forced Benny to turn into a crutch. His warmth emitted from his body, calming the panicking boy, who's head was spinning with questions. Likely, it was a communicable illness spread by some mindless student that didn't cover their mouth when they coughed, but he was unusually getting worse. Benny's touch seemed to be the only thing that helped. The world around him was dizzy and all he could think about was how he desperately needed a drink of water.

"Take me to the fountain...please," Ethan painfully managed to say as his body shifted to the direction of the disgusting school water fountain. Not only was the water always lukewarm and tasted filterless, the silver bowl was stained with God knows what.

Benny complied, worried for his friend. Poor Ethan. He was under a spell and seemed to be coming down with something all on a day when he could be pretending he was actually going to man up and ask Sarah out. He wasn't that heavy thankfully and hoisted him to the crusty spout.

Ethan clamped his mouth to the spout of the fountain and pushed the button, gulping large amounts of water so quickly that Benny was concerned that he'd throw up. But it tasted so good. Gosh, it was like his body had been deprived of water his entire life and had finally taken a sip for the first time.

"Hey, hey, easy there," Benny patted his back and pulled the dying fish away before he made himself feel queasy. Ethan rested against his side and placed a hand on his shoulder for balance. "Ethan? You should go home and get some rest,"

"No! I'm fine, really. I'm just a little dehydrated is all. This water helped so I should feel better by lunch time," Ethan said, not wanting to lose Benny for fear of getting worse and not being able to spend time with him on a special day.

"I don't know," Benny didn't believe the fable that Ethan was trying to sell to him. He assumed that the main reason Ethan wanted to stay was because of Valentine's Day. If he wasn't going to go home, then someone needed to keep an eye on him here.

"If you're staying here then I'm going to be with you," Benny would have to use some sort of temp rotary convincing spell for the teachers to let him in the classes, but thankfully it wasn't too difficult. Although his grandmother advised against using it, this was a desperate time. His parents had fallen under the dprll a few times. Good. The more he practiced the less of s chance he had to mess up.

As terrible as Ethan felt, he managed to grin at the thought of Benny offering to be with him all through the day. His aching heart skipped a beat. Lowering his hand, he snatched Benny's lightly and sighed.

"Okay," There was no way he'd argue with that!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: What Did You Do?

"Thoughts?" Erica spun around charmingly in front of Sarah, showing off her fresh outfit bought specifically for the enigmatic Greek that roamed the school. A tight leather top with a low collar was bound to get his attention. Mix that with the pair of extremely tight skinny jeans shaping her perfectly made her that much more confident that today she would get a better reaction out of him!

"You look ridiculous," Sarah said, not impressed with the outfit.

In her opinion, dressing like that to get a guy was going about it all the wrong way. Respectable guys would like you regardless of your attire. If he only cared about her when she wore things that were revealing then he wasn't a considerable match, just a twit. Erica deserved someone who was going to admire her beauty inside and out, not whatever was underneath her clothes. She didn't understand what was so special about this boy going through all of this trouble to impress him. By impression, it was clear what he thought about her and it didn't sound optimistic.

"You won't be saying that when I have arm candy by the end of the day," Erica said, with full intentions of getting the guy no matter what.

"Erica, if he likes you because of how you look now then he isn't worth it. You should try for someone that likes you for you," Sarah said, insisting that her friend looked for a reasonable crush. Even Benny, as much as she hated to admit it, seemed like a better crush than this loser she attempted to captivate.

"Save the mom speech for someone who cares," Erica said, too busy admiring her outfit to actually care for whatever Sarah was telling her. Though it was impossible for her to see her reflection, Erica was positive that she looked absolutely hot! No one could resist a sexy blonde with cleavage, not even a guy who wanted to play hard to get. If he wanted to play games with her, then she was just going to have to play dirty. There was no cheating when it came to the game of love.

"Hey, what's going on with Ethan," Sarah said, her focus now swaying over to the scene of him shaking heavily as he inhaled all of the water from the school. Either Benny had turned him into a mermaid or he was just sick. In her gut, she sensed that this water drinking was much more than meets the eye and she intended to find out what those two morons were up to.

"Who cares?" Erica said, seemingly disinterested. She never cared for the nerds that Sarah was so protective of. Indifferent, that was what she was. They knew she was a vampire, she knew they had some kind of magical powers and that's all she bothered to learn about them. Most of the time she didn't even refer to them by their actual names. What Sarah saw in those twerps was something that'd remain a mystery to her. Perhaps they give her some awesome blood bank.

"I do. I'm gonna find out what's going on," Sarah announced as she began storming over to them like an angry mother.

Benny was adjusting how Ethan was standing when he focused on the infuriated vampire stomping their way. Uh-oh. By the looks of it, she wasn't heading over to give them a friendly Valentine's day greeting.

Benny and Ethan's antics didn't last for more than a couple days usually and considering that they had experienced a similar encounter, it was odd that Ethan had declined. She assumed that Ethan would be ignoring Benny and making him beg for forgiveness, instead she witnessed him glued to his hip and lapping up water like a dehydrated puppy. It was pathetic and cute at the same time.

"H-hey Sarah," Benny said, giving her a sheepish grin and waiting for her to explode.

He messed up. On occasion, Benny had great ideas and it just so happened that this unfortunate one affected Ethan. There was a sneaking suspicion that Sarah liked Ethan, but Benny never mentioned it because he figured she wasn't even aware of the affections. A vampire with a weakened lover. Oops?

"What's wrong with Ethan?" She demanded, not wanting to waste answers with unnecessary talk.

"Nothing sweetheart. Now move along, there's plenty of other people to third wheel with," Ethan snapped, not wanting to lose his Benny's attention from him. They were having such a great conversation before she arrived. If she hadn't rudely interrupted then he would've been able to sneak in a line or two about how kind and adorable his boyfriend looked today. Nooo, she had t o just waltz on in with her perfect hair and captivating features and mess it all up for him! Soon enough she'd keep Benny all for herself. She was too much competition.

Sarah folded her arms and stuck her tongue out against her cheek. Oh, so it was going to be like that was it? Whatever spell he accidentally used on Ethan, it was getting on her last nerve. A jealous Ethan ended up being a rather petty one!

"Benny! You said the spell would wear off by now," Sarah said.

"I know, I know. It should've. Maybe the spell just takes a little more time than the potion," Benny said thoughtfully.

"Well whatever it is, it seems to be making him look awful. You better do something before it gets worse," Sarah warned him.

"There's nothing wrong with me. Maybe mind your own business, tramp," Ethan snarled, disliking when some girl was just ordering Benny around. Clearly he could do that without the help of some girl.

"If you don't do something about this soon, I will," Sarah said, glaring at Benny and refraining from exposing her fangs to the two she was currently furious with.

"Got it, find out what's happening and change Ethan back to his usual socially inept self," Benny waved Sarah away, slightly bothered that he didn't know where to start. There was no way he was mentioning that to Sarah though.

"Ugh," Sarah turned around and slammed her feet to the ground, making the world around her shake with each step, as she headed to Chemistry class. Benny was starting to make it on her list and believe her, no one wanted to be on her list.

Actions


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Water Fountain

"Tsk, nerds," Erica wanted to know why Sarah seemed so overprotective of these guys. Why did she almost seem to care about them more than herself? Ethan was whom Sarah often shared most of her attention with, Benny was more of an afterthought, but it was still hurtful. They had been best friends since middle school. Suddenly she comes across two losers and she forgets all about her and Dusk. It was like their friendship never mattered in the first place!

Annoyed and thirsty, she decided she would snag a quick sip before she headed over to that Greek cutie that just passed by her. Perhaps if he watched her lean down as she drank he would be into her even more. Resistance was impossible when someone so sexy was doing sexy things. With a sly smirk painted across her face, she slowly walked leg in front of leg over to the fountain. As the prize was standing there, it almost seemed to have a sparkle to it, like this was what she was supposed to do.

She bent down and let water escape from the spout, flowing up like a rainbow and landing perfectly into her red lipped mouth. She forgot how gross the school water was but held in the pain as her disdain wouldn't make the picture look exactly how she wanted it to. Some dribbled past the crevices of her mouth and down her chin, almost re-enacting when she drinks blood, not that he was seeing it that way.

And man oh man was he looking at her now. Erastus was not focusing on the way she was dressed, though she was showing much more than he remembered her usually wearing, but was interested in why she was drinking so funnily. Whenever he drank from the water fountain his lips were pursed. Her mouth was wide open like a frog attempting to snatch a fly on its tongue. A funny image it was, one that he will not forget when he goes back to Greece. Canadians sure were funny people.

His stare gave her confidence to approach the foreigner. This was it, the hint that he wanted her and she was just exactly what he had been dying to have. She'd be more than happy to give him an official welcome to Canada. "Oh Canada, our home and native land!" What a cheerful song it was when you got to celebrate it in such a fun way!

Slowly she raised back up to the ceiling, her chest puffed out, as she unlatched her hand from the button and departed over to the curious eyes. One. Two. Three. Even from a distance his heartbeat was so delectable, so mellifluous to her ears, and she could've torn him apart on the spot if they weren't in the middle of the hallway in some useless school. If she didn't have parents then she wouldn't even bother to go to school now that she was an immortal being and all, but that was beyond the point. It won't matter after they pass anyway.

"Liked the show did you," Erica said, her pearly whites flashing him as Erastus closed the locker peacefully in front of her face.

"There wasn't much to see," Erastus said blatantly, confused if he was supposed to be impressed by the way she drank water or something. Perhaps she did a cool trick with her tongue that he completely missed.

"I was just giving you a taste of what you could see if you go to the dance with me tonight. Think of it as a welcoming present from me," Erica giggled darkly, placing a leg between his feet and looking up at him with innocent eyes.

Gosh there were so many plans in store for this man. She could bite him at the end of the stairs or in the elevator. Near the punch bowl would be a rush but not conspicuous enough. OH! She knew just the place. There was a family of rose bushes behind the school that would be perfect for a nice memory. If her heart could beat then it would be beating so quickly that it could outrun a cheetah.

"Why would you do that for me? You don't even know me," Erastus reasoned, still not sure of this girl that was coming on so strongly.

"Well I gotta start from somewhere. Meet you here at eight?" Erica bit her bottom lip in hopes that he'd say 'yes'. He didn't seem convinced.

"Ehhh. Maybe," Erastus heard the bell ring, as if it were a savior from heaven, and suddenly rushed away from the creepy girl.

"Just you wait," she murmured under her breath.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: It's Infectious

It was odd, bizarre even, that surrounding the school many more people were acting like zombies. Dozens of students in the hallways were walking so slowly that Benny managed to be three minutes late to class and he was never late. Unexplainable to some, that typically dull lightbulb above Benny's head turned on brightly when one classmate complained of chest pains followed by four other people. Crud. The spell was causing others to be affected too, the question was just how. How was everyone else falling under the spell? Did he accidentally transfer it to the whole school? Rory would've fallen under the spell if that were the case, right?

Ethan had progressively gotten worse too, barely able to support his own standing and used his "boyfriend" as a third leg. His heart was throbbing, crying for some attention every time Benny didn't speak to him. Thankfully he felt better each time Benny was sweet to him, but that didn't happen often. Mostly he suffered in silence, admiring the way Benny's eyes fluttered when the teacher said something complicated and the way his lip was curve into a slight smile when he figured something out.

The two were seated in the lounge, snuggled in the cushions of the couch while Ethan kept a tight hold onto Benny's left arm. Since yesterday they were inseparable. Every so often they would catch a couple interested looks. Benny had never felt more aware of his presence in his entire life before, and he was a nerd! Nerds never got attention from anything they did minus being asked to do someone's homework.

"Hey, I just wanted to say that it was really brave of you two to come out and I'm on your side," a girl with curly hair and deep mocha skin said, smiling kindly at them and handing Benny a piece of paper. "The GSA would love to have you. We have meetings every Wednesday after school in room 145, you should come. Oh and I'm Whitney by the way," Whitney turned around and rushed away, handing out a couple more flyers in the the room before heading out of the lounge to her group of multi-colored hair friends.

It was very welcoming of her to do that and Benny appreciated the gesture, but there was no way he'd ever go into that place. He didn't need more questions and focus on the relationship that he had accidentally put upon himself. Keeping it on the down low was his goal even if it was difficult to achieve after the major blast on social media. A few birds on twitter even picked up the news and posted a photo of them holding hands. What kind of sick person takes a photo of a couple and posts it all over the internet for others to see? A true sicko, that's who!

Besides the dating rumors spreading, Benny had more pressing issues at hand. It appeared that the symptoms Ethan had were popping up all over the school. It was just like when he used the potion, only he couldn't figure out how this disease spread considering there wasn't a transferrable way for it to reach others. At least it didn't seem like there was. After lunch Benny would have to do some serious studying in his magic book.

"Dudes, what's up with this school?" Rory asked as he sat onto one of the arms and surveyed the room full of sick people. Not everyone was ill, but as the day continued it seemed like the populous would increasing. Rory could count how many bodies he could take under the fang, and it was too many for his little bat brain to count!

"I don't know yet. I'll figure out soon enough though," Benny wasn't himself either. He was the jokester of the group, the one to ease the situation whenever things were stressful. Today was too much. Between Ethan stuck to him, the girls at school thinking he was dating his best friend, and watching as more people were getting sick it was all too much at once for him. It was overload. No amount of easy jokes were able to lighten up the mood for him now, not even Rory's dumb comments.

"Could it have something to do with the heated babes coming our way?" Rory asked as he stared down one bat ready to kick some butt and another one with heart eyes. Had the spell seriously managed to get Erica too? This day was worse than yesterday and Benny didn't think that was possible.

"Benny, what did your pea brain conjure up?! Erica won't stop talking about this Erastus guy. I know she had a crush on him, but it wasn't this serious until today," Sarah had a tight hold on Erica's wrist, presumably for protection from the Greek guy. Perhaps the protection was from Erica actually, knowing that whenever she had a date it wasn't going to end well for the other person.

"His nickname is Eerie and I love him!" Erica attempted to be released from Sarah's grip but was failing. All she was craving was that dark blood to seep into her fangs as she tasted Greek food for the first time. English guys and German guys were so boring and just tasted of potatoes. She wanted a new flavor, one that she was bound to be addicted to. Erastus was her new addiction and she was fine with that.

"Who cares if she is in love? Let her be happy," Ethan said, shrugging his shoulders and not seeing a problem. Before his realization with Benny, he felt so hollow. Life without loving Benny was meaningless. Erica should be allowed to have that feeling too, of having the perfect person for her.

"Alright. Now that I'm seeing signs, I have more of an idea of what to look for. I promise I'll have it figured out by the end of the day. Just meet me by my locker after school," Benny promised her. In truth, seeing everything happening around him did give him a better approach of what to look for. Hints always helped.

"Fine. If you don't then you'll have a Greek vampire to worry about on your hands," Sarah walked away with Erica, not seeming any less angry than before.

"Dude, chicks are hot when they're mad," Rory said.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Lovesickness

"Baby, you aren't making any sense," Ethan said, holding his hand and swinging it as they walked to Benny's locker. Benny had been explaining, more to himself, what had been happening based on the events at school. Ethan refused to believe anything he was being told. Magic didn't make him genuinely feel the way he was about Benny, that was impossible. There had to be a vision he could use to prove to Benny that their love was realer than aliens one day taking over the earth. Weirdly, he wasn't seeing anything since he had been under the spell, maybe it was blocking his visions somehow.

"Actually, this is the most sense I've made all day," Benny said, positive that he had hit the nail on the head with this one. No matter what Ethan had claimed, he knew that it was all the spell talking. Though it was so convincing sometimes, he had to remind himself what magic could do to people. Love was one of those tricky things not to mess with and he had to learn that the hard way, again. Now that it came to mind, Benny was accepting that tampering with the forces of nature would bite him in the butt irregardless of how small. He wished he had figured that out before he got himself in a stir of trouble. On the bright side, if Tiffany had been under the spell there would be more at steak. Ethan was at least aware of magic and would know how to handle the aftermath. Explaining anything to Tiffany would've been tricky.

"Come on. No amount of magic in the world could make me feel so truly in love with you like this. There must be something else making me ill," Ethan insisted.

Ethan didn't care what Benny said, he loved him. Love was supposed to be magical anyway wasn't it? What was upsetting was that Benny wasn't accrediting his feelings and instead dismissing them altogether. Didn't Benny feel the same way? He acted like he did earlier, but he was contradicting everything from this morning with all this talk about the spell. Perchance Benny was the fake, not the spell. He was a liar and a manipulator. How could he have been so foolish?

Another punch to the heart, that's what Ethan felt as he was coming to the realization of their true relationship. Benny didn't want any of it and it was killing him, literally. A loud cry emitted from his lips, his grip tightening painfully in Benny's hand as they stood there patiently waiting for Sarah's arrival. It was like a thousand stones had toppled upon his chest and he was struggling to keep from collapsing underneath them. Dramatic as it was, the force of that hit was about to push him down to the ground. He felt like he was on the ground being tortured by a sadistic elephant, pressing all of its weight on his heart. His heart was about to burst!

"Ethan, are you alright?" Benny thought that touching him would help, but here they were with physical contact and Ethan was yelping in pain.

The spell was complicated. Throughout the duration of its existence, Ethan had been a roller coaster of emotions; lashing out at people close to Benny, annoyed whenever Benny wasn't around, and yearning for the slightest contact for reassurance that they were an item. Another change occurred. Previously he was in an immense amount of pain, yet how he handled it was contrasting to now. It was almost as if something had alternated, he just didn't know what.

"Yes. I just need to use the washroom. Excuse me," Ethan let go of Benny and raised a hand to the lockers, using them for support as he made his way over to the only thing that he could use for escape. He needed time to think. Benny was the only thing that was dancing in his brain, he needed space. Then that cloud in him could be wiped away and he'd be able to think clearly for once. All of his answers would fall right on his lap when he had a more intuitive disposition.

"What's with him?" Sarah said, filling in the space Ethan left and watching as he battled his way to his destination.

"Hey, I figured out what spell I used," Benny was less concerned with Ethan and wanted to let Sarah in as soon as possible before her worries combusted. And Ethan would fine once they got the cure for him, therefore no need to stress.

"Good, it's about time! What is it?" Sarah was relieved to hear that Benny finally had his act together and was ready to take this seriously.

"After reading through my book and seeing what's happened at school, I've deduced that I caused a lovesick spell to hit Ethan," Benny explained, knowing that there'd be followup questions.

"And that is?"

"I don't know the details, but essentially Ethan weakens whenever he isn't around me. The spell is communicable like a disease. I theorize that when he drank from the water fountain other people must've caught it," Benny said, looking at the door of the washroom with longing. Ethan never took more than two minutes to use it.

"Okay, so how do we fix it?" Sarah inquired. Sarah wasn't concerned with how Ethan was acting considering his behavior for the past two days were unusual. Nothing with these boys seemed to surprise her these days with all of the antics that they put her through. There was the pet apocalypse, the love potion, the blood drive, cheerleaders, and an abundance more that came to her mind.

"That's the problem. I don't know how," Benny said, frustrated that there wasn't a clear way to end this without outside help.

"Looks like we need to make a visit to your grandmother," Sarah said, not caring either way how this was dealt with as long as it was handled properly.

"I know. Man, I really hate facing her like this. She scares me," As soon as Benny spoke, Ethan appeared out of the washroom and with reddened eyes.

He looked extremely distraught, like he was pondering a difficult decision and was not able to face the grips of reality.

"Who scares you," Ethan said, interrupting the conversation.

"We're going to Benny's grandmother's," Sarah said, waiting for some reaction out of Ethan. Instead, she was left with a shrug of his shoulders. He didn't reach out for Benny either, which was odd all things considering. She cocked an eyebrow in suspicion at the male.

"If she threatens to turn me into a toad again, it'll be worth it," Benny surmised.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: Philia

Ethan didn't want anything to be wrong. The more preferable approach would be to ignore what he felt deep down and enjoy the moments he could share with Benny, regardless if he were being honest or not. As much as he tried to brush that haunting thought of unrequited love aside, he found himself being haunted by three more angry ghosts. Many more questions and theories flooded each time he took a small glimpse into deciphering their relationship.

On the way to his grandmother's house, Ethan was silent. Selena Gomez's presence was absent and the soft brush of trees passing by was the only whisper in the teens' ears. Occasionally, a huff would come out of Sarah and Benny would make that grunting noise he made when he was nervous about something. Ethan sat there squirming in his seat, focusing on the blur of green out his window and doing everything in his power to not think about Benny. Failing miserably, he succumbed to his instinctual ways. But man was it hurtful. Gosh there was so much pain and he swore he physically felt his heart sink when Benny's reflection was caught in the window.

When the awkward car ride ended, the trio exited the vehicle and ashamedly made their way inside. Ethan and Sarah weren't even guilty and they felt bad entering her home. Knowing that Benny wouldn't drag them was reassuring, but guilt by association was still a thing.

"What have you twits done now?" Benny's grandmother, Evelyn, had a hand on her hip and a presumptuous look in her eyes that told them that she had sensed there being an issue long before they arrived at her humble abode.

It was a nice little home. Outside was all brick and inside was dark wood and books. She had added some color with drapes and rugs, but the design was very old fashioned. Benny and Ethan didn't care about it that much, but Sarah secretly adored the fashion. If she could dress up her house in a creepy old way...never mind. The loss of blood must really be getting to her head. She loved the modern look more than anything, not old lad vibes!

"Well, actually Grandma, it's more what I've...done," Benny said as he placed himself on the blue couch. Ethan followed, sitting farther apart than normal, and Sarah found herself sharing a seat with Evelyn.

Evelyn noticed Ethan being off-standish but didn't point it out. His aura was different. Instead of a positive energy, it gave off a blackened vibe. Difficult to tell why with lack of information, she assumed that it was hormones to blame. They messed with auras more than people considered.

"I'm listening," Evelyn said as she situated herself, staring at the three with anticipation of an explanation.

"Okay...so yesterday I tried to use the spell 'amare' on Tiffany," Benny said, already giving his grandmother a sorrowful look knowing that she was going to be marked as the most disappointed grandmother in history. He knew without any psychic powers that he was going to get another lecture about never learning and how messing with the pendulum will swing things back in his face. He didn't need that now though, he needed answers to curing this thing.

"Again with the love spells? Benny, didn't we talk about this already?" Evelyn wanted to let this go. How could she when her idiot grandson hadn't learned from almost being killed from the same spell.

"I know, I'm sorry. Anyways, the spell accidentally hit Ethan. I thought it was that spell anyway," Benny was all over the place. Mostly he was distraught. The entire car ride there he had rehearsed in his head what he would say. Now that the occasion rose, he was choking.

"Benny..." Evelyn said, truly hoping that nothing too bad had happened to Ethan.

"He mixed up the spells and I'm feeling sick, as well as the rest of the school, so he had concluded that he induced a lovesick spell on me! There, was that so hard?" Ethan said bitterly, crossing his arms across his chest and almost facing away from Benny hadn't they been in the same room engaging in the same conversation.

"Right, that," Benny said with a sheepish grin.

"If you casted a lovesick spell then this is more serious than I thought," Evelyn said with fear in her voice. She knew of that kind of power and it wasn't something to tread lightly with.

"How serious?" Sarah asked, her turn to freak out. Out of all the stupid things Benny does and he chooses to release biological warfare on the entire school. Sure, he didn't choose it, but it was his fault!

"Lovesick spells are a force to be reckoned with. They're what's known as the 'heart disease' of spells," Evelyn said.

She suddenly leaped from the chair and swept her feet to a bookshelf. After finding a thick blue book, she flipped through the pages. Evelyn came back to the group and set the book on the table, her finger stuck on a picture with a heart on it, only the heart didn't look like one you'd find in your health class book. It looked like it had been rotting.

"When this spell is casted, it immediately starts at the core, the heart. Ethan's heart is slowly being eaten away each time he isn't around Benny. Since they are often together he has lasted longer than usual, but it will only get worse from here. You need to save whoever else is under this spell by tonight or you'll be too late," Evelyn explained.

"Crud. And now we have a deadline!" Benny bemoaned. Pressure was becoming too real, especially when he now had no choice but to pull his act together.

"Oh boohoo," Ethan said sourly.

In truth, he didn't want to be 'cured'. It was hurtful now, but before the emotional turmoil Ethan hadn't felt happier. It was as if the sun had handed all of its light to him in a little box and when he opened it joy exploded. Oddly, it didn't scare him to see how his heart would end up. His faith in Benny went farther than magic.

"Is there any way to stop this?" Sarah asked, wanting to know Ethan's impending doom.

"There is one way, true love's kiss," Evelyn said, waiting for someone to protest after that.

"Like in the story I read to Jane, Sleeping Beauty," Sarah said, recalling to when she babysat Jane Sunday.

"Precisely," Evelyn said with a serious expression on her face, darker than before.

"Okay, but how are we going to get every person in school to kiss each other?" Benny asked, contemplating how to pull this off now that he was in work mode.

"Right. Even with a kissing booth we don't know if we're getting the right people together," Sarah chimed in.

"You don't need that. If you can convince two people to kiss, you have them both blow the kiss afterwards into a potion and then you're home free," Evelyn explained to them. She walked away again and brought back a large vile filled with a sparkling pink substance.

"Great! Ethan and Sarah can kiss, boom, whole school saved," Benny cheered.

"What makes you say me and Ethan are true loves kiss? Ew," Sarah made a face at the idea and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, total ew," Ethan agreed.

"Not so fast warlock. In this case, only the kiss of Philia works," Evelyn said, in the back of her mind hoping it wouldn't be an issue.

"Philia? Is that some kind of Phil thing cuz I don't get it," Benny said dumbly.

"To the Greeks, 'philia' also known as friendship love, is the strongest type of love there is. You and Ethan need to kiss in order for it to work," Evelyn said, ruining his chance of not having to kiss the lovesick puppy.

"Why do we have to kiss? Ethan and Sarah are friends too," Benny complained.

"Again, ew," Sarah said.

"Their friendship isn't nearly as strong as yours. It won't have enough power to save the entire school," Evelyn answered, handing him the bottle. "You put yourself in this mess and now you have to get yourself out of it,"

"Yeah, alright," Benny said, still not sold on the whole idea.

Ethan would usually be bouncing off the walls with glee at the thought of kissing Benny, but now he was feeling guilty that he would be enjoying the kiss and his friend would have to force himself to do it. He didn't say anything about it, knowing that the whole school depended on his lips. Regardless, it was heartbreaking to acknowledge.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: A Bitter Taste

Sarah drove the two on their way back to Ethan's house. Benny and her devised a plan that involved the dance to save their school from a deadly heart disease. Occasionally, Ethan would put in his two cents worth, not adding much though as he mostly complained. He knew the right thing to do was the reverse the spell. Every once of his peers depended on his participation. But it was agonizing to come to terms with. He'd wonder what he owed to everyone anyway. Still, their lives rested in his hands and he could never live with himself knowing they died because he was too selfish to lift the spell.

Their fanged friend dropped the boys off, Benny decided he would walk home as his house was opposite of Sarah's. Ethan stared at the concrete, detailing the small cracks in the foundation that in the summer was filled with ants and saw the light frost take their place. Outside was cold and inside wasn't any better. He felt frigid and isolated from the world without Benny in his heart.

Benny, on the other hand, was glad this was all coming to an end. After he dressed up a little for the ladies at the dance, he'd fix the spell and hit on chicks! It was a win-win for him, even though he had to spend some of his dancing time reversing a spell.

"This has been one adventure huh?" Benny said as he readied himself to departure from his friend's place.

"You could say that," Ethan said sharply, still focused on the ground. Eyes were the window to the soul and he didn't want Benny near his true feelings. Instead he built up a strong wall that was safe from invaders.

"Welp, goodnight dude," Benny said, ignoring Ethan's tone, though he was quizzical.

"Sure, if that's what you want to call it," Ethan snapped back.

"Okay, what is with you? Ever since we left school, you've been acting funny," Benny couldn't take it anymore. He felt uncomfortable with Ethan's flirting, but it was better than enduring this harshness he was receiving. Conflict wasn't fun. And it was so rare of them to argue that he didn't know how to handle Ethan's nastiness.

"I know you've been pretending to love me. You're a phony! You are a dishonor to Yoda!" Ethan's volcano had erupted from hours of accumulating lava. Why should he be silent when he was being mistreated? No one should have to stand for such manipulation, in particular to those you loved especially! He didn't deserve the way Benny was behaving towards him.

"Woah woah, hold up! Yoda would be honored to have me as a young Jedi!" Benny was dismayed at the way Ethan was speaking to him, now resulting to insults? This was definitely not Ethan. This was the voice of a hurt boyfriend, one which Benny didn't have.

"Oh my gosh! You are unbelievable," Ethan said, looking up at him and crossing his arms. It was so disgusting to him that Benny wasn't considering his side of things. If Ethan's feet weren't bigger, he'd take off his shoes right now and have Benny wear them. A spell for opening minds should be one he looked into. The gaul Benny had to focus on something so minuscule made him feel as if he were diminishing the actual issue at hand.

"I'm unbelievable? You're the one under a spell. Face it Ethan, this is all a lie. You're the biggest sham here," Benny was not having any of this! He was used to the name calling from kids at school, but Ethan had never called him a name. That was one of the reasons their friendship was so strong, there wasn't judgement. At times, yes, Ethan would warn Benny when he was about to do something stupid. His best interest was at heart though, not to just ridicule him. Now, he felt like he was being jabbed at with no good reason.

"Right! Just like everything else in this town. You know what I think?" Ethan said, ready to let him have more of a piece of his mind without mercy. He was too angry to think, too hurt to hold back, and too disappointed to care.

"What? What do you think princess?" Benny said in a snarky tone, this time crossing his arms and glaring at his "friend".

"I think you're scared! You're scared of what your real feelings are, so you're avoiding them by pushing me away," Ethan declared. He wasn't positive his statement was true, but he wished it was. Then they could kiss and make up after a silly argument. This would all be over with.

"Ethan! Get it through your thick Mario shaped head; I'm not into you that way!" Benny had enough. He was done pretending to be in this relationship. There wasn't any point to it since they were fixing this by tonight and Ethan was starting to get on his nerves. The piles of stress was making him more irritable and presently he wanted to smash something with all of this pent up tribulation. Spell Ethan deserved the truth.

"Why not?!" Ethan asked, his windows beginning to well with water at the bottom as he blearily looked at his lanky lover.

"Because I like girls!" Benny stated matter of factly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the entire world next to saying the sky was blue.

During this whole endeavor, no doubts entered his mind. Girls were what he was attracted to. They had soft skin and cute lips. Guys were hairy and masculine. Even if he tried to like a guy, he just couldn't. Don't get him wrong, he never had a thing against guys liking other guys, it just wasn't his thing. He also didn't like broccoli, but he didn't judge others for liking broccoli. That was the same concept he rationalized.

"I'm better than any girl you'll get," Ethan said. In certainty, he was. They both had the same interests, agreed on the same things, liked the same foods, and knew almost everything about each other. They were the perfect match!

"Yeah, except for the fact that you're not one! You're you and that will never change!" Benny shouted. He didn't know why he was so angry, but he was.

"Then why lie all those times? Why would you lead me on like that?" Ethan asked, sounding even more hurt than before. His heart was being pounded against, his body trembling and he could hardly stand at this point. A rush flooded his head and he was doing his best to keep from passing out. He had never felt more upset than in this moment, not even when Jane accidentally broke his authentic 1950's Superman comics. Out of every option he had, the one he was dying to do was run as far away as he could from hearing anything else Benny had to say. Words had never done so much damage.

"Because I felt bad for you, okay? I casted the spell and I thought it'd be cruel of me to break your heart," Benny could see the physical scarring he was causing to him. He was doing his best now to calm down for his friend's sake.

"S-so you thought stringing me along would b-be better?" Ethan asked, doe-eyed and biting his lip back. Holding back tears was more difficult than holding back a dam with only three thin logs as its barrier. If his logs snapped so would he.

"I don't think you get it. There isn't anything to string along. How you're feeling isn't even real Ethan," Benny said, hoping he could rationalize with Ethan even if he was influenced by a spell.

"Well it is t-to me! You might not see it because I'm under a s-spell or whatever, but these feelings have been here all along...I just didn't unc-cover them until now," Ethan said, positive that these were just hidden feelings that he miraculously found. He knew he was under a spell, but it didn't matter. He still knew that he felt and that love was real. His love was real. Even through his blurry eyes, he was seeing clearly.

"That's what you think because of the spell!" Benny jumped.

"I know how I feel and what is real!"

"Ethan, I promise you that whatever this is, is the largest facade I've ever encountered. You mean nothing to me!" Benny had to try to say anything he could at this point to get his friend to listen to him.

Ethan went silent. A small tear spilled from the corner of his eye and down his cheek. It was almost impossible to muster words at this point. He fell to the ground, his heart cracking and shattering to the bottom of his chest like pieces of glass collecting to the floor. The harsh wind of winter was punching his face and whispering rude things past his burning ears. His entire bod felt like jelly.

"Out of all the hurtful things you could've said to me... and you chose the worst thing to say," Ethan said darkly.

Benny realized what he said. He was coming off rather harsh, especially to someone under a spell. It was frustrating keeping it all in. Guilt bathed his conscious and in an instant he was calmer than water sitting in a cup. Recalling back to their argument, if a girl he cared about spoke to him the way he spoke to Ethan, he'd be pretty upset too. And Ethan truly believed that he was in love, of course it was going to make him feel a million times worse! The blame wasn't even his.

"E, wait. I'm sorry," Benny said, reaching out to place a reassuring hand on Ethan's shoulder. Maybe small touches would work, it did before.

"Just go Benny," One thing they never tell you about love is how much it hurts. Love can make you feel like the happiest person in the universe or the most miserable. You could feel like you've climbed to the top of the world or being crushed underneath it. Light could be proudly beaming on you or sucking into a black hole. To many, the risk of wanting to be crushed from rejection was worth it even for one second of being in love. Ethan was one of those people, but he wasn't thinking that at that time. He thought love was the worst thing invented and should be left out to dry. Love was cruel. It danced around you and made you feel as if you were in control, making sure that you felt your very best, before it snatched the rug you stood on to laugh as you fell. Merciless, that's what love was. People focused so much on something that was so malevolent. Love was vindictive, evil, malicious, spiteful, abominable, harmful, pernicious, damaging, nefarious, deleterious, and cruel. Ethan couldn't even remember why he admired love so much as he sat on that concrete.

"Are we still going to the dance?" Benny asked, still worrying more about tonight's plans.

"Yeah. You can cure me and then forget none of this ever happened," Ethan said quietly.

"Cool, I was thinking the same thing," Benny nodded, thinking they might be finally going on the same page.

"And after tonight, I never want to speak to you ever again," Ethan poorly stood up and walked to the front steps like a zombie. And before Benny could protest, Ethan slammed the door in his face.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: Epiphany

"Benny...you look amazing," Ethan said in awe. Benny was a heartbreaker, but he had to admit he looked dashing.

Benny didn't know exactly what to wear to this. He used that rented tux he forgot to return and had his grandmother fix it up to look appropriate after she scolded him for the thirteen wrinkles on the slacks. His hair was washed and gelled, tastefully, and styled in a cool way. The shoes he wore were shiny and showcased the ceiling from their tops. A small red bowtie adorned his neck and was perfectly centered.

"Thanks man, you too," Benny said, dusting the floor with his feet and darting his eyes on the walls.

"Benny, there's something I want to tell you," Ethan said, as they both awkwardly stood there in front of the door.

"Me too," Benny said quickly.

"C-can I go first?" Ethan requested, fumbling with his fingers.

"Okay," Benny responded gently.

"I just feel like I should mention this before the dance tonight," Ethan hissed in pain and went to rest on the stairs. Benny knows that his touch helps to he rests a hand on his thigh.

"You can tell me anything dude. Although one time you mentioned some weird slime dream you had and that was way too much information," Benny said, sneering back when he thought about it.

"I'm being serious," Ethan said.

"Alright, alright. What is it?" Benny said, looking at him curiously.

"Ever since I've realized my love for you, whether you think it's some spell or not, I've never felt better. It's like there's this whole new world for me that I wasn't able to see until now. I know it sounds crazy, but you're my world. You make me feel like there's nothing that can keep me down as long as you're by my side. We've been through so much together and I don't know why it's took me this long, but I'm glad I figured it out when I did. You mean more to me than you can ever know. And, like, I know you are going to say I only feel this way because of the spell and maybe that's true, but right now I don't care. Benny, I love you. Whether that's caused by magic or not, it's still real love that I feel. This isn't man-made affection. So, even if the spell is making me feel this way, it's making me love you. By the end of tonight, we're reversing the spell and it breaks me to know that we have to end the best feeling of my life. But honestly, I'm glad you put me under this spell. I've realized why people yearn for love so much. All the pain you might endure from it is worth the risk of having the best feeling in the world; being with the perfect one for you. And it sounds cheesy, but you're the perfect one for me whether that's romantically or not. The spell might've made my love romantic affection, but it didn't change how much I genuinely love you, just the form of it. Platonically, I love you just as much as this spell has been making me love you romantically,"

Benny was utterly speechless. He expected Ethan to lament about his undying love for him. Instead he was met with the most accurate sentiment he's been told within the last 48 hours or so. Deep down he had always known that they loved each other platonically. He just didn't conceive the extent of it until they were there on those staircases. The spell might've exaggerated his romantic love to Benny, but it highlighted the quantity of his platonic love just below the surface. The flirting just disguised it too well, distracting Benny from what Ethan was actually showing him.

Ethan was sad when he wasn't around Benny. That was translated through his lovesickness. Ethan liked to casually touch his bro as a sign of physical affection so the spell made him touchier. Ethan was proud to be friends with Benny, even if he was a total nerd, hence him blasting all over Friendly Face about their relationship. Benny didn't always consider Ethan's side of things, so the spell had Ethan inform him of that. Each action Ethan did was a mirror of their platonic love If Ethan weren't under the spell right now, he would've never said any of those things he just admitted. Benny would've never figured out the extent of their friendship. Benny felt like such an idiot.

"First, I wanted to apologize for how I acted earlier. I was a jerk. I get it now though," Benny said. He couldn't begin to talk about how bad he felt after the whole thing went down. It was nagging in his brain and refused to leave. Each time he recalled to it all he felt was remorse.

Ethan smiled softly in relief that their conflict was resolved before the party.

"So what were you going to tell me?" Ethan asked him.

"Oh right...I just was gonna say sorry and that I couldn't stop thinking about our talk. Like, it was real," Benny said. He didn't know how to have deep conversations as his whole life was spent cracking jokes more than a chef cracked eggs.

"Your speech really hit me. And I love you too, platonically," Benny said, clarifying his sudden confession.

"Cool," Ethan had to hold back from just pouncing on him there, respecting the boundaries since he placed their relationship in the 'friend-zone', and instead rested his head on Benny's shoulder as a compromise. Thankfully he didn't seem to mind as he didn't tense up or pull away.

~His eyes glowed white. This was his first vision in two days and it took a moment of ruminating to get the meaning of it. Ethan and Benny were fourteen, they were toying in his backyard with their new light sabers and jabbing at each other. Ethan's was blue and Benny's was red. As one would guess when hearing that two teenage boys were poking sticks at each other, Ethan's light saber slipped and accidentally hit Benny in the eye. He howled in pain and covered his eye, placing light pressure to the infliction. Immediately, Ethan ran to him and checked on his eye. It was starting to turn a shade of salmon pink.

"I"m so sorry! Wait here," Ethan exclaimed. He rushed into his house and came back with an icepack in his right hand. Benny gratefully took it and placed it to his wounded eye, giving Ethan a soft look. That was the moment. Though both unaware at the time, that was the moment the two positively loved each other. Philia really was the strongest form.~

Ethan came back to reality and huffed. Before Benny could ask what the jerky movement was, a knock came from the door. They both hopped from their places and greeted Sarah.

Sarah looked gorgeous! Her hair was curled and laid gently over her hot red dress. The dress came up to her knees and was close to the shape of a pencil skirt. To add, she wore a black sweater and black high heels. Makeup was never over the top for her, but the lipgloss she had on was very glittery, like the crown of a fair maiden. Needless to say, they both were starstruck.

"You nerds ready?" Sarah asked, confused why they both just stared at her like she had just come back from the grave.

"Y-yeah totally, got the potion," Benny said, showing off the vile before shoving it back in his pocket. "After you," He said motioning to Ethan.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: Hungry Vampire

Colorfully lit around the school, strobed lights directed Sarah's way to the parking lot. Couples decked up were holding hands happily, exchanging kisses and laughing as they entered the building. Freshmen and seniors were arguing in one corner outside and a girl had just slapped her presumably boyfriend for whatever reason. The school itself wasn't large, but it was a good size for their small town. It was the largest school in the district come to think of it.

"Woah, chicks can get so catty," Benny observed as he witnessed two sophomore girls screaming at each other with a tall blonde male in between them. Though this could be from the spell, high school girls were also way full of drama.

"Meow," Ethan mocked, looking over where Benny was and seeing the girls begin to slap each other like idiots. He didn't get that; girl fights. They either slapped each other senseless and cried when an earring was ripped out or they screamed and called each other extremely nasty names. At least once a semester there was some kind of fight, the one that the whole school would talk about for three weeks and then forget when new drama emerged to the surface. High school was full of petty arguments that no one but the people involved cared about.

"Let's stay focused here. Benny, you kiss Ethan and put it into the potion," Sarah started to say as she tried to find parking in this madhouse parking lot.

Sarah was not as nonchalant about the situation as the boys seemed to be. They handled pressure, usually, very well. On the other hand, Sarah was not nearly as relaxed. The main goal was to get on task, complete the task, and be able to sleep for the rest of the night not worrying about what troubles the night. It seemed like every where she turned, there was a problem she had to fix. Whether that was because of the nerds being idiots or monsters deciding to take matters into their own hands, she always was caught up in the middle of it. In truth, she felt some responsibility to take care of this little town considering she was one of the few with the power to do so. Curse her good heart.

"And then I pour it in the punch and everyone is saved, I got it. Chillax," Benny interrupted.

After they were able to make up from the fight, Benny was less stressed and easily became himself again. He figured most of the reason he was anxious was because he couldn't get a handle of Ethan, who was apparently dying each minute they spent not kissing. The spell probably affected him mildly in some way too. It was better now. There was a plan, he was informed of everything, and now he could just be careless Benny that everyone ignored whenever he said something inappropriate for a given situation. Where would the world be without his terrible humor?

"We got this, I hope," Ethan said, watching as she whipped into an empty parking space and jolted in surprise at the sudden stop.

"Yeah, let's hope," Sarah murmured to herself, having a strong sense that there was more than meets the eye behind those large doors.

The gang were on their way inside the building, walking down the hall. Just as Benny was about to mentally prepare himself for his quick kiss with Ethan, everyone turned their heads at the loud sound of someone hissing. And they all knew who it was too, Erica.

"There's no point in running pretty boy," Erica said as she was pressing Erastus against a dark corner in a hallway that wasn't lit up. This was a part of the school that wasn't supposed to be occupied, therefore giving her the perfect opportunity to grab some fast food before heading in to party all night long. The high off sexy fresh blood was going to make this Valentine's Day dance that much more fun! The only problem was that Erastus was more of a fighter than she expected.

"Let him go Erica," Sarah demanded from the end of the hall, trying to remind herself that this wasn't Erica but the Erica that was under a lovesick spell. She had to intervene. Benny and Ethan followed her, though Ethan was slower than the other two, and stared her down as she cocked her head to see the intruders interrupting.

"I'm sorry. I don't remember asking for a waiter, let alone three," Erica snapped, slamming Erastus' wrists against the wall and sticking them there. Her orbs glowed a bright yellow and long sharp fangs popped from the top of her mouth, revealing themselves as she hissed them a warning to back off. Her love was going to be with her for all of eternity after this and no one could stop her.

"Erica, this isn't you," Sarah said, desperately trying to talk some sense into her best friend. She crept up to her, still twenty feet away when a rush of air smacked her in the face.

"If you want to come closer to my woman's dinner, you're going to have to get through me first," Rory declared, putting himself between the two vampires and getting into a fighting stance.

Meanwhile, Ethan and Benny were thirty feet away and distraught with what to do. Rory was under the spell too, making it significantly more difficult to defeat Erica with no weapons. Sarah was strong, but so was Erica. Defending would be tricky, yet Ethan had faith that they could pull it off.

"Great, just what I need. Count Dorkula to the rescue," Erica said in an annoyed tone. She made sure to keep Erastus in her grip. To keep Erastus from escaping, she'd have to let Rory fight for her. This was going to be one fast fight.

"Anything for you my sweets," Rory said with his eyelashes fluttering, turning his head to Erica and giving her a dopey grin.

"Oh no, Rory's here. Whatever will I do," Sarah said sarcastically.

Before he even had time to react, she high kicked him in the face. He grabbed his face and hissed at her, attempting to hit her back and missing as she stepped to the side.

"Benny, go with Ethan. I got this," Sarah told him.

Benny looked curious at the scene and gave it a weird look. "Okay..." He said as he and Ethan slowly backed away by fifteen feet now, the fight being harder to see in such cruddy lighting.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: The Kiss

For fun, you can listen to these songs as you read. They're the songs I imagined being played at the dance. They're 2010/2011 songs since the show came out in early 2011. The audio is also mixed in a way that the sound makes it feel like it's playing around you so listen with headphones on!

First: watch?v=WH3Kf27vzcA - Tik Tok by Kesha

Second: watch?v=EeSPJ3Z65rY - Break Your Heart by Taio Cruz ft Ludacris

Third: watch?v=vaFZ9iu8TQQ- Bad Romance by Lady Gaga

The iconic pair escaped the area of bats having an argument over rotten fruit and found another dimly lit hallway on the opposite side of the school, wanting to be as far away from the mob as possible. Shadows of hearts popped on the floors and you could hardly make out the shapes of lockers and posters without adjusting to the darkness. Music was booming against the walls and beneath their feet, playing "Tik Tok" by Kesha and making it almost difficult to hear anything besides the pop star's voice and bass. Both stopped in front of a math room, able to see easier after staying without light for some time, and caught their pantings accordingly.

Ethan was slowing down, his heart not able to handle the fast palpitations and beginning to weaken him. Tick tock, time was on the clock and the sun had been down for a while. He didn't know how much longer he had until he would faint, but he felt it strongly coming on too soon. His legs were aching, lungs burning, head throbbing, and heart pounding as his throat dried up from the lack of air his body was receiving. Benny was fine, meanwhile, he was gasping for breaths.

"You okay man?" Benny asked Ethan, who seemed to be on the verge of a heart attack. Side effects of the spell were unknown. His grandmother did warn him of the signs involved to know when to spot a person's heart deteriorating. They included being out of breath, heart beating more than usual, and passing out. If Ethan was breaking down already, there was a good chance Erica and Rory would give out too and Sarah could easily take them on. Unfortunately, there was no way to tell because Ethan was hit with the spell a day prior. All he could do was hope.

"Y-yeah...just...out of...shape," Ethan attempted to say between pants. Although Benny could hardly understand his speech, he figured it all meant 'help me' in code. He knew what they had to do now. It was just so awkward.

"So..." Benny said, not wanting to be the first to suggest kissing his best friend. Gosh, thankfully he couldn't make out which room they were in front of otherwise he'd never be able to look at it the same way again. How do you casually kiss a guy friend without changing the relationship? Would they even be able to look at each other in the eyes tomorrow? Would he stay up all night replaying it in his head from the horror? Ew. And Benny would be able to rate Ethan's kissing abilities. He didn't want to lose his first kiss this way!

"So..." Ethan repeated, more so wanting Benny to start it. He could jump on him right now and kiss him to death, he did love the guy after all. But he didn't want to push any boundaries with Benny seeing as they argued viscously when he did. Benny would have to say something first in order for him to know that it was okay. Plus, being yelled at by your crush for flirting with them was incredibly embarrassing. There was no way he'd risk being embarrassed twice in one night!

"You ever done this before?" Benny asked quietly, his eyes focusing on the black figure outlining his friend, who was facing the lit part of the hallway. His legs were starting to shake, gosh was he nervous. He didn't know why he was nervous. It was just his friend Ethan. Was this normal? Maybe all guys were scared to kiss no matter who it was. Kissing was intimidating no matter how you looked at it, especially if you weren't a pro.

"No, have you?" Ethan asked him in a gentle voice, his fingers playing together and twisting around shyly. Exhaustion was really getting to him though. His body was growing so heavy and it felt like gravity was the weight of nine elephants.

"Duh," Benny said. After he heard silence from Ethan's end he spoke again. "Okay, no," He admitted. That's when he heard a drop to the floor and that line of his disappear.  
"E-Ethan!?"

Benny dropped to the ground to see that Ethan had collapsed to the floor, his body lifeless and his chest only barely rising. The spell was so fast now! Just a moment ago, Ethan was speaking. He knew he had to act now or else he might lose his friend forever and not save the rest of the school. His hands were shaking as he reached out to grab his wrist. Ethan's pulse was slow. That was a wonderful sign!

"I got you buddy...I got you..." Benny whispered, trembling as he reached deep in his pocket for the potion. Working his fingers, he twisted the cap off and felt for Ethan's lips before hovering about 5 centimeters away from them. He sucked in the deepest breath possible and leaned over.

His lips were quivering as he felt that they were just two touches apart from kissing. Ethan's breath was slow and hotly hitting Benny's face. Benny gulped. So badly he wanted to close his eyes, but knew he couldn't because he needed to aim the kiss into the potion. The glow of it was helpful in guiding the way. Hesitantly, he grazed over Ethan's lips and took another breath. He manned up and pressed them together. To his surprise, Ethan's lips were soft and plush, pushing against Benny's own lips and lightly wetting them. A flutter in the scared male's chest rose, it was foreign yet for some reason not weird.

After a few seconds, he pulled apart and blowed the kiss into the potion and quickly screwed the cap back on. He swirled the vile from the top with his fingertips, watching as dots of red exploded inside, and unscrewed the cap again. Slowly, he poured a small bit of it to Ethan's mouth and watched it drain to the back of his throat. When would this potion take affect anyway?

His answer was soon revealed, as he watched Ethan's eyes slowly flutter open. Benny checked for Ethan's pulse and felt it speed up slightly. All was good and this hopefully meant that everyone else would be cured soon too. His hand swept Ethan's chocolate bangs away from his forehead and hushed him as he attempted to get up. He should sit back and take it easy.

"Benny...did you do it?" Ethan asked him delicately, still feeling terrible.

"Well how do you feel?" Benny asked him, fingers crossed it wasn't going to be sappy.

"Tired. I still love you, just definitely not like that," Ethan surmised.

Benny felt a huge wave of relief after hearing that! If he didn't have the right potion he didn't know what he was going to do.

"Good to know man. Stay here, alright? I'm gonna finish saving the school," Benny said as he stood up and shoved the bottle back in his pocket.

"The one you put in the danger," Ethan said, emphasizing on the 'you' part of it.

"Yeah, whatever," Benny said as he made a run to the sound of 'Bad Romance' blasting.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen: It's Getting Spike-y

Songs:

First: watch?v=4K-0-c1VU1c - Animals by Neon Trees

Second: watch?v=51sLHF23WM8- I Got a Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas

Third: watch?v=SRsM08eYezU - Just a Dream by Nelly

Chapter Text

Benny didn't know whether to run back to Sarah or to the dance first. Unexpectedly, Erica and Rory were acting out. This wasn't part of the plan, so what was next? She did tell him that she had it under control, but did she really? With Rory being under a spell, the possibilities of his capabilities were endless, even more so with a love spell involved. After running both choices in his head, he thought it best to check on Sarah before jumping into the dance.

He sprinted around the school, the music distancing itself and the shadows guided him in the correct direction. Running was not his favorite thing to do, he'd rather be on the dance floor or at home playing video games right now but had no choice. Sometimes, it was almost better if Benny were a vampire. At least then he'd not have to ask other people for help and would be able to be more self efficient.

The yells from Sarah helped him find their location again, watching from afar as she and Rory were going at it. Every time Erica leaned over to bite her meal, Sarah would reach out to kick her to the ground before focusing back on Rory. Rory was a terrible fighter. However, he was distracting her from keeping her best friend away from an innocent exchange student. This was one night he'd never forget. They'd need to figure out a way to erase his memory, now that she thought about it.

"H-hey Sarah, do you need any help?" Benny asked as he watched her huff before kicking Rory ten feet away from her and into the wall. She seemed to be holding up pretty well.

"I'm fine. Did you kiss Ethan yet?" She asked him, not bothering to look back and swooping down to sweep Erica off her feet. A scream escaped from the vampire's fiery mouth.

"Yeah," Benny said, walking closer to the brawl and dodging when Rory flew at his face.

"Don't worry about me. Just hurry up with the punch already!" Sarah said, swatting her hand at him and kneeling down to punch Rory hard in the stomach. Rory keeled over and groaned, struggling to get back up and hit her back. Man, he really was weak.

"Will do," Benny said, turning around and sighing before running back to where he just was. That was a complete waste of time he assessed.

Shades of red and pink lighting where filling the large gymnasium where Ethan had once beaten a guy at wrestling. It was tickling that gave him victory, but it wasn't against the rules making the win totally valid! Boys and girls were dancing very closely together to popular music and just having a good time. He'd be having a good time if it weren't for his idiotic actions. Tiffany was there too. She looked so pretty, standing with a couple of her friends and laughing at some comment Jessica made. Hair curled and wearing a floor length red dress, she looked over the top stunning! That'd be his date right now if that stupid spell hadn't hit Ethan. Ooh the resentment.

"Focus Benny, focus," he said to himself as his feet pointed in her direction. He knew now was not the time for his antics.

Scanning the room carefully, he found a long black table with an assortment of refreshments and cookies. Yum! He hobbled on over and picked up a chocolate chip cookie, the sweetness melting into his mouth perfectly and satisfying his taste for sugar. Just as he was about to go to the punch, he was interrupted by a voice behind him.

"Hey Benny, you came! Where's Ethan?" Whitney, who was wearing a yellow dress oddly enough, asked Benny as she reached out to pour herself a drink. She was energetic and having the time of her life it seemed. He couldn't tell whether the spell was affecting her or not.

"He's in the washroom, probably fixing his hair or something," Benny responded, shoving his hand in his pocket and holding the vile tightly in his palms. Was she going to leave him alone or would he be able to distract her? A challenge indeed.

"Oh, well you're welcome to come join me while you're waiting," Whitney said with a great big smile on her face. An arm reached out to grab his wrist, pulling at him to go with her.

"Thanks, but I'm going to grab a drink for him. You can go ahead without me," Benny said politely, not wanting to hurt her feelings but also wanting desperately to tell her to back off. She was kinda hot though. Should he take this opportunity to make out with a hot chick before the potion? Wait a minute, he forget Whitney was a lesbian. He had no chance. Back to the potion it was.

"Okay, have fun at the dance tonight!" And with that, Whitney left his side and went to go dance with a smaller girl with dark hair.

He turned to face the punch bowl, looking to make sure no one could see him and removed the lid from the vile while it was still in his pocket. Then, stealthily, he poured the potion into the bowl and stirred it with the giant metal ladle to ensure it was touching every square inch of that bowl. Perfect, now he just had to wait. When he turned back, he was met with sick looking people rushing to the bowl. That was his queue to bounce! First, a couple of cups to go.

Squeezing past people, he did his best to retain the drinks in the cups. Everyone was so sweaty and he felt so hot from all of the excessive body heat being exuded onto him. It was so overwhelming. A giant sigh of relief was graced upon him when he exited the giant double doors and out into the cooler hallway. Now, Super Benny to the rescue!


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen: Spells and Vampires

Benny was aware that he was closer to Ethan than the rest of the group, so he decided to make a quick stop before stampeding over there. Using his muscle memory and adaptive vision, he was able to locate Ethan. There he was, sitting up against a locker and relaxing himself. His chest was rising faster than before, thankfully, and he seemed to be doing okay. Still, it was vital to make sure.

"How're you holding up?" Benny asked, setting the drinks on the floor and seating himself adjacent to him. Though it was difficult to see, Benny could make out the struggled look on his friend's face. It was hard to determine exactly what was trouble him, but it must've been something important because he didn't say anything. And Ethan always had something to say, mostly sarcastic, but at least it was something.

"Alright, I guess," He said lightly, resting his hands on his thighs and looking across the way to stare at the lockers in front of him. "You're special!" "True love is worth it 3" "You're perfectly imperfect :)" Those were just a few of the cheesy comments the GSA sticky noted on everyone's locker. It was a kind gesture, but Ethan didn't take it very seriously. They didn't even know who the people opening the lockers were, just that it would potentially make someone's day. He was too rational to view it as a positively directed towards him though, just the idea of who he could be.

"You seem perplexed," Benny said to him. He didn't know whether he should've said anything at all. The guy did just go through some emotional roller coaster that was hard to decipher between reality and fantasy. Usually people just go back to normal from this. But their fight was what made him so contemplative. What he admitted to Benny earlier on the staircases was baffling. Was any of it even remotely true? What was he feeling right now? Was that real? He knew he should just be able to determine himself and assume his regular state, but a strange force was refusing it to happen.

"Don't worry about it. Go help Sarah out," Ethan said to him. The last thing he wanted was to bring up anymore serious issues with an even bigger problem at hand. Benny shouldn't be worrying about his emotional turmoil, he should be going out to save Erica and Rory. He didn't care about Erica as much, but Rory was a priority for certain. Sure, he was a large idiot, but he had good intentions with most of what he did. Although he seldom participated in fighting monsters, he was there when it counted.

"I'll be back soon, don't go anywhere," Benny ordered. He stood up, wobbling a bit as his legs were starting to burn from the unusual amount of cardio it wasn't used to. His muscles were staying "Uh, excuse you! Since when did we exercise?!" Trying his best to ignore that, he bent down to pick up the drinks from the floor and stared at Ethan who pathetically sat there. It looked like he was wallowing in pity after a bad breakup or something. Oh yeah. How would the rest of the school take it when they found out their new favorite couple was 'broken up'? He hoped okay.

Benny headed off and went to the crime scene taking place with the three vampires and human who seemed confused and scared at the same time. Though he was a lot calmer than most in his situation and he was holding up rather well. The first time Benny found out about Sarah, he was pretty sure he screamed like a little girl. As Sarah ducked down to miss Erica's kick, Rory was behind her pulling at her hair. How was he going to get them to drink?

"Hey! This took two hours," Erica complained when her perfect pony tail was pulled out and sticking out like a crazy cat lady. It was funny watching the awful banter at play, amusing even.

"Back off my woman!" Rory said angrily, reaching up to hit her in the stomach when Sarah grabbed his wrist, turned it around and flipped him on his back. She wasn't taking any of this tonight.

"Drinks anyone?" Benny said, hoping that they'd take the bait and want to cool off for a second.

"I am getting kind of tired," Erica admitted as she started winding down. Panting, she walked over slowly to him. Rory followed her to Benny and both grabbed the drinks from his hand forcefully, downing the punch quickly and dropping the cups on the floor.

Sarah and Benny watched the two eagerly. After a couple moments, the two looked at each other perplexed and shook their heads.

"I feel...different," Erica noted. She knew that she had a liking to Erastus, but not to this extent. Now she just saw him as the same hot guy as before.

"Me too," Rory said in awe.

"You guys are crazy!" Erastus said, beginning to run away before Sarah punched him in the face to knock him out. He fell flat on his back beside her feet.

"Your grandma can use a spell on him later. We should clean off that water fountain before we go," Sarah said to him.

"One step ahead of you. Thankfully I saved just enough potion," Benny left to go to the contaminated water fountain, poured the potion on and came back. He really should get Ethan home.

Now that Ethan came to mind, Benny was concerned. Ethan looked off when he came to him, as if there were something he couldn't shake off his mind. What was worse it that it appeared he was hiding it. They never had secrets they kept. Honesty and openness was the key to any strong friendship and they were no different! Maybe he needed his space to think, but the different scenarios running through Benny's head were eating him up. His best move was to ask.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen: Confusion

As they were all walked out of the school, not really in a party mood, Ethan was being helped by Benny while everyone else was glaring at him. It was all his fault that they had gotten into this mess. Rory could've been hitting on cute flower wall chicks, Erica could've not scared Erastus and gotten a decent meal, Sarah could've stayed home to avoid all of this and Ethan could've stayed home being mad at himself for not asking Sarah to the dance. Every plan was ruined because Benny wanted to cheat the system when asking a girl out.

"Why don't you ask a girl who already likes you? Why do you have to put every girl like you under a spell?" Erica asked him angrily. Hadn't he learned not to do this kind of stuff before? And here they were, scolding him for doing the exact same thing. It was so frustrating. A genius learns from his mistake. An idiot makes the same one thinking there will be a different result. Nope. It still ended in disaster.

"I'm sorry. How many times do I have to say that?" Benny asked her. He had said sorry at least ten times before they had all walked out of the building. Guilt was washing over him as he realized that his friends' plans were ruined thanks to him. Like Ethan had told him a couple days ago, it wasn't a necessary spell since he knew that Tiffany already liked him. The thought of using a spell anytime soon was not an option.

"Until you invent a time machine and reverse everything that happened," Erica sassed. There was a spell for that, but Benny thought it best not to mention it.

The two blondes separated from the pack and flew up to grab a bite. Sarah drove the duo to Ethan's house and left, not wanting to deal with Benny for the rest of the night. She was too angry at him to even bother speaking to him. He didn't deserve to hear anything she had to say. Plus, she didn't want to say anything to him that she'd end up regretting.

Benny and Ethan struggled up the stairs. Then, Benny gently rested Ethan on his bed, helped him slip his jacket and shoes off, and settled himself on the edge of the bed. Ethan looked awful, like he had just run a 5k that he wasn't prepared for. The spell had vanished, but it was taking him a while to recover from his heart being torn to pieces. Who knew a love spell could be so sinister? A soft sigh escaped past the injured male as he stared at the wall.

"Hey, I don't wanna pry or anything, but what's been on your mind?" Benny asked Ethan. He sensed another uncomfortable discussion coming on, but he wanted to have it. He promised himself this would be the last serious conversation he got into willingly with Ethan for a while. Too many of these and they might actually be a couple. Bros just hung out, not shared their feelings every two seconds. Well, some did not if you were Benny. Benny was too scared for things like that.

"Nothing. I've just been tired," Ethan lied, not wanting to have this conversation at all. He felt as if all of his feelings and thoughts had been completely violated by this spell. As a person, he was stripped away from his right to control his body and was forced to do things like being creepy to Benny. No say, he had no say in what he wanted to do. Now that he finally was able to control his speech again, he wanted to use it on his own time.

"You sure? I feel like there's more to it," Benny said, slightly pushing for Ethan to tell him.

"It's just weird. I'm so confused about everything. I can't tell what I feel," Ethan said to him, gluing his eyes to the wall and wondering why he still had that poster of their favorite monster hunter when he had ruined the man's career.

"Think about it, you aren't obsessed with me right now. You aren't being touchy and begging me to kiss you. I'd say it's pretty easy to separate the two," Benny said, attempting to dispute any evidence of doubt that Ethan would have to consider that his affections for him were still roaming deep within the contents of his heart. It was improbable that he still liked him, unless he truly did and he had loved him romantically all along. That wasn't true though. They were guys before fries, not lovers before brothers.

"I get that. But...I was so convinced I felt that way about you," Ethan said, his hands beginning to shake from the nerves. Everything occurring was so overwhelming and this conversation wasn't helping in the slightest.

"Well if you didn't it'd be a pretty useless spell. You gotta keep that in mind, you were under a spell," Benny said to him, trying to be the voice of reason for once in his life.

"That's true. It's just so weird knowing I had those feelings. Like, I can still go back and imagine feeling the way I did," Ethan didn't know exactly how to describe it. He could just sense those feelings he had for Benny way back if he thought about it again. It was like when you remembered a time when you were angry about something, even if it happened two years ago, and you got angry about it again. He was thinking back to earlier that day and could feel it all over again, what the spell had produced.

"You don't think you actually love me like that do you?" Benny asked, in hopes that the answer was a flat out without a doubt 'no'. At this point, there was no telling which direction this would go.

"No, it's...there's no right word to describe it. I just feel so confused, weird, ashamed and grossed out at the same time. I'm conweshagrod," Ethan said. He didn't want to reveal too much. Being as discrete as possible was the goal.

"I can use a spell to make you forget everything happened," Benny had told himself an hour ago that he wouldn't use anymore spells, but this wasn't a spell for himself. He was offering a spell that would help someone else, his best friend who had never looked so lost before. They had once been lost in a forest and even that seemed like they knew where to navigate more than Ethan knew how to navigate his feelings.

"There's no way I'm letting you use any spells on me. I don't want to end up feeling worse than I already do," Ethan said, looking over at him and giving him a very serious look.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Benny said, desperate to end this without having to bring it up again.

"Not really. I need space to think," Ethan said gently, pulling the blankets over his body and snuggling deep in his bed.

"For what it's worth, I've known you for so long and you don't see me like that. We're brothers. Don't let this spell mess with your head," Benny insisted, getting up and heading to the door that they had once broken together.

"No offense, but you don't really get what it's like to recover from a spell. You haven't been under one before," Ethan pointed out to him.

"Fair point. I'll leave you to your thoughts," Benny said respectfully. He then left.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty: Ice Cream?

"So Ethan...are you still 'conweshagrod'?" Benny asked jokingly as he approached his friend, who looked much better than yesterday, and leaned against the locker as Ethan struggled to open it.

"Nah, I think my feelings were residual from the spell. I definitely just see you as a dude now," Ethan said to him confidently.

Although in the back of his mind there were doubts about how true that statement was, the last thing he wanted to do was prolong this issue. If he continued to have feelings for Benny, then eventually he'd say something. For now, he'd have to wait it out and see if naturally it goes away. After all, three days of being convinced you were in love with your best friend would be difficult to just blow over in a night's sleep. He had seen their friendship in a completely different light and a completely different mindset. Time was the best teller of his true answer. If only he could touch a clock and foresee his future. Could he? Maybe he'd try that out later.

"Thank goodness! I thought I was going to have to secretly put that eraser spell on you," Benny said out of genuine relief.

His grandmother had actually wanted to put Ethan under that spell, but Benny insisted that they give Ethan some time to gather his thoughts. He'd put his buddy through so much and the last thing he wanted was for everyone in the friend group to have remembered a very important Valentine's Day that Ethan would have no recollection of. It wouldn't be fair to him. For once, he had to stop thinking about himself and consider other people.

"What if you messed up the spell again and I forgot about you entirely?" Ethan challenged, wondering how awful it would be to be the victim of two Benny spells. Yeah, he'd have to move countries and his name in order to get away from him if he did something that tragic to him. Magic was only as good as the person using it, obviously Benny wasn't that good.

"Then I'd convince you to be my friend again through the powers of the Triforce!" Benny said, raising his hand up in the air and grinning like a proud idiot. The occasional Legend of Zelda references Benny made always seemed to put Ethan in a better mood, but today was an exception. Contrary to his improvement physically, mentally he seemed out of it.

"That'd make me want to stay away from you," Ethan said to him with an odd look on his face, as if he were judging him.

"Do you underestimate the power?" Benny asked him with a serious expression.

"A little," Ethan said, grabbing the front straps of his backpack and walking away to the hallway. As he did, he was followed by Benny and ran into Erica and Sarah. They both were giggling about something, but he didn't know what.

"So how's Bethan? Is the ship still sailing?" Erica teased. It was weird how she could be so nonchalant with the two of them when just last night she was about to tear out someone's throat. Benny was no psychologist, but he'd definitely diagnose his as bipolar sometimes. Women's emotions in general were never ending roller coasters.

"I don't know what that means, but I'm gonna go with no," Benny retorted, the males adding to form a line that blocked half the hallway. Sarah was quiet, appearing upset still.

"Aw, so sad. I'm going to miss the one interesting thing about you," Erica said to him as she flipped her hair in his face. Was she mad at him or was she over it? That remained the biggest mystery for him at this point. To clear the air, he'd have to say something.

"I'm glad it's over," Rory said as he popped up by Ethan's side out of nowhere, adding his unasked opinion to the conversation, like he did with everything. Ethan rolled his eyes.

"No duh, that was the worst 72 hours of my life I'll never get back," Ethan complained.

"Guys, I just want to say that I'm really sorry for everything that happened," Benny said before everyone piled up on the bandwagon to indirectly trash Benny. There was so much heat between the group that not even the best firefighters in the world could put out their flames.

"Oh wow, that totally makes up for everything," Sarah said to him sarcastically.

"How about I make it up to you? After school, we all go out for ice cream and I pay," Ethan offered, hoping that they would bite at the chance to have a free tasty treat.

"Hmm. Fine," said Sarah.

"Heck yeah!" Rory said, who was barely affected by any of this in the first place.

"I guess so," Ethan said.

Erica shrugged her shoulders. "I'd pass, but I literally have nothing to do after this so fine,"

And with that, Benny was able to win everyone's forgiveness and go bankrupt when they all decided to each a crud ton of ice cream.


End file.
